Their Pride
by Mikki Warner
Summary: This is the story in response to KaileyMcLean15's request for a family story. Here it is, girly! Hope you enjoy it! Smeet ZIM is just like any other Irken youngster; innocent, adorable, and outright mischievous.
1. Prologue

So this is a story in response to KaileyMcLean15's request for a Invader ZIM family fic. I saw her post on FanFiction and I'm like, 'Hey! I'm fairly decently okay at writing family junk! I should give it a try!' So here it is girly! I hope you enjoy this possibly detestable literary composition I call, Their Pride.

A few notes to keep in mind. In this fic Irkens are naturally born so they do not have PAKs. Picture them as you would reading any of my other Invader ZIM stories. Such as, water doesn't burn them, Irkens have emotions and feelings, they don't have any human bodily functions, (except for burping. Cuz that's funny.), the Tallests don't have those deformed bodies, (If anything, they have good-looking muscular bodies from being in the military.) etc.

And with that splendid little annotation. Let's begin this horrid atrocity of an adventure story. (I'm kidding. I don't do requests half-assed. I did my best.)

So I truly do hope you like it, Kailey!

* * *

The wail of a newborn smeet woke her from her slumber. Five nights. It's been five nights she went without a decent eight hours of sleep. That was the part of the many joys of being a parent. She just wished she had her husband by her to help out. But _nooo_. As tallest he was obligated to do a different sort of duty besides just raising a smeet. He was thousands of miles away checking on invaders and overall just being the leader if the Irken Empire along with his twin brother.

The woman kicked her blankets off her body and stood up from her large bed. Groggily walking down the hall of the palace they lived in on their home planet, Irk, she made her way to her son's room. She yawned when she came to his door and opened it. Peaking inside to see the outline of a crib on the opposite side of the dark room.

She looked down in love of her smeet as she picked him up and cradled him in her strong arms. His crying ceased as he felt himself in the protection of his mother's embrace. His bright magenta eyes opened, piercing the darkness of the room. She smiled. Her light blue eyes and his father's dark red eyes made their son's eyes a vivid mauve color.

"Hi, darling, I'm here. Mommy's here." The woman spoke. Her voice gentle and deep alto. She caressed the smeet's face with her index finger. The boy chortled adorably, grabbing at her finger with his tiny hands. "Young one, you are the pride of the Empire." She nuzzled her face into the smeet's. "My little ZIM."

One Month Later

She held her smeet in her arms tightly. This was going to be hard for her, but she had no choice. War was too dangerous for a smeet and she had a duty to attend to. There was no telling when or if she'd come back. She was the head general of the Irken military. It was her job to work with her soldiers at the war zone and front lines. But the smeet's father. He was always safe. He had to be. He was the tallest. The Tallests always are protected by the armada and guards. Even though the Massive travels to all the planets conquered, ZIM would still be safer with them than with her.

ZIM's mother gazed down at him in love. She didn't want to let him go just yet. Curse the Irken enemy for declaring war! Curse them for forcing mother and child apart.

"General Hyacinth, smeet ZIM's cruiser awaits." Her soft blue eyes looked up to her advisor, whom she entrusted the wellbeing of ZIM with. He held out his arms to receive the smeet.

"Protect him with your life, Magglioh." The advisor nodded. Hyacinth tilted her head and planted a delicate kiss upon her precious smeet's head. "Be good for daddy, young one. I hope to see you soon enough."

"Don't worry, mistress. I would never let you down." Magglioh took ZIM from her arms. "He's in good hands, milady." With that, the slightly shorter Irken bowed in respect and boarded the voot cruiser. Hyacinth could only watch as her smeet was whisked away to travel amongst the stars until he reached his father. The woman prayed under her breath.

"Oh Red, raise him well."

* * *

Short prologue, I know. The second chapter should be more than five-thousand words though. I promise.

I'll upload by the weekend hopefully.


	2. Strong

"Warning: A voot runner in our vicinity asking to dock the massive." Red sat straight up in his seat, antennas perked at the news. All technicians and pilots eyes shifted to him.

"Permission granted! Take me to the docking bay to greet them!" He jumped up. He's been waiting an entire month for him to arrive. Red's twin brother gave him an inquiring look.

"What is it?"

"He's here." Was all Red said, before bolting from the main command room of their ship. The other Tallest glanced at a few technicians. They shrugged.

"Tallest Purple, I think he may be talking about his son." One tech said. Purple's eyes widened. Not saying another word, the other Tallest dashed from the room as well to meet his nephew. Purple met up with his twin at the docking bay. The voot already landed. The door of the ship did not open just yet. Red beamed excitedly. He couldn't wait to see him.

"Don't get too kindled. You don't want to scare your smeet." Purple warned his brother. Red nodded, not really listening to what his brother said. The sound of the hydraulics on the voot cruiser rung through the bay. The door of the cruiser slowly opened revealing a man holding a bundle in his arms. He looked exhausted. The man stepped out of the runner and stood in front of the two.

"My Tallests." He bowed, regally, presenting the bundle to the two. Red bit his lip and took the blanket from the advisor. Red lifted the sheet that covered the the face if his smeet. When the father first looked upon his child he nearly melted. A wide smile swept across his face. Purple peered over his shoulder, smiling as well.

"He has your face." Purple put a hand on his twin's shoulder. Red leaned his head down and touched his forehead to his son's.

"Your mother told me a lot about you, little one." Red whispered to the half asleep smeet. "Your sensitive, loud, and silly."

"All the traits of your father." Red glared at Purple, who just snickered in return. The father turned his attention back to his smeet.

"Welcome aboard the Massive, ZIM."

...

"He's so close."

"Very close. Maybe in a few more days he'll get it."

"I want him to get it now." ZIM looked up at his uncle and dad with wide eyes. A stream of drool trailed down his chin. "Common, Z, say dad, dada, daddy . . . father." Red paused another moment to see his smeet's reaction. The young boy just tilted his head to the side, not fully understanding what he was being asked. "Nothing."

"It just takes sometime. He's only five months old." Purple crouch by Red, looking at ZIM. "Say, Pur."

"Puh . . . Puuuhhh." ZIM drawled, straining to echo what his uncle said. Purple looked victorious.

"Close enough!" He pointed at Red. "In your face!" Red scowled.

"My son likes you more than me already?"

"What can I say? I'm the favorite uncle."

". . . Not to mention the only uncle." Red grumbled, picking ZIM up from the floor in his quarters. "I'm going to lie ZIM down for a nap. I'll meet you in the command center." Purple nodded leaving the room. He walked down the hall of the Massive and noticed a lot of uneasy and sad service drones, techs, and pilots. Purple rose a curious brow at this but decided to brush it off for now. Whatever it was it'd be known soon. Minutes later he arrived at the main room where no one was really doing their jobs. The pilots weren't driving. The drones weren't serving. The techs weren't navigating. It was also eerily quiet. As soon as he entered the room, Purple felt as if he were greeted by a wall of . . . mourning, almost.

"Why has the Massive stopped?" Purple demanded, asking the first worker he saw. The Irken hunched slightly at the tone.

"Excuse me, sir. But we'll wait till Tallest Red arrives and then we'll let you know." She whimpered. Now Purple was completely lost. Confusion and anxiety started to well up within him.

"Tell me . . . Who does it concern?" Purple asked.

"Your brother." Another said. "And his wife." Purple's eyes widened.

"Oh lord, no." Purple felt himself go pale. At that moment Red walked in. Purple lowered his head.

"What's going on?" Red wondered, noticing the quietness of the normally lively room.

"My Tallests, you may need to sit down for this." Their advisor said. Red and Purple exchanged a look, but nonetheless sat in their normal thrones.

"Not good news, I'm assuming, Urii?" Red slumped in his seat, rubbing his temples.

"Grave news, sire." Their advisor said. "General Hyacinth . . . She was field working in the Hesilesh war zone when her fighting jet-" The advisor gulped, not knowing how they'd take it. ". . . was shot down." Red tensed as he felt himself go cold. Goosebumps almost immediately covered his usually smooth skin. "She was killed in action. Her body was never recovered." Red's jaw dropped, eyes wide, heart pounding.

"N-no . . . She wasn't working on the field for this war. She told me she was at the H.Q.-"

"She told you a lie so you wouldn't worry about her." Urii interrupted. "She died a hero, my Tallest." Red sucked in his breath. Purple was shocked when he saw his brother started to shake with, what? Rage? Sadness? Both? Whatever it was, with Purple knowing Red's temper, it would probably end violently.

"Red," Purple said, soothingly. "Take deep breaths. Don't do anything you'll regret." Red pressed a fist to his mouth, biting his knuckles with enough power to draw blood. He didn't know what to think. Every thought he had was going in and out of his mind. The ship seemed to be spinning around him as he contemplated on the horrifying news. The man started to breath heavily. His wife. His life partner was . . . No. She couldn't be! Not her! Not General Hyacinth. "Red-" Purple was cut off when Red lurched toward Urii, grabbing the collar of his uniform and shaking him roughly, jolting the poor unsuspecting advisor's head.

"You lie!" Red bellowed. Even though he was in a state of denial he still had tears streak down his face. "You don't jest about things like that, you filthy bastard! You don't! You're lying!" The raging Irken pulled a fist back and threw a punch, connecting it with the advisor's jaw, breaking it in the process. Purple gasped, getting behind his brother, wrapping his arms around him to pry Red off the other Irken. Technicians backed up the violet Tallest by also trying to restrain the delusional male. "You good for nothing shit! I will have your head! Take back your lie!"

"My Tallest, please!" Urii ripped away from the vice-like grip and scrambled away. He held his sore jaw. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am." Red's eyes were wide and disbelieving. They seemed to burn brighter than the fiery pits of Hell with all the tremendous loathing he felt towards the advisor at the time. Still being held back by several guards and his brother.

Red wheezed, bowing his head in an attempt to hide his grieving. ". . . You're lying. I just saw her. She sent me a transmission yesterday. I just saw her yesterday . . ." Purple sighed, releasing him. The techs followed suit.

"Red," Purple started, embracing the slightly younger Irken in his arms. "You need to stay strong." Red slumped down into Purple, letting his emotions takeover. He cried hard into Purple's shoulder. "Please, stay strong. You still have a smeet to raise after all."

* * *

Remember when I said that the next chapter was going to be more than 5,000 words? Sorry. I just felt that after the second half of this chapter that this would be a good place to cut off.

The next chapter will be longer yet! This, I promise!


	3. Trouble

Two Years Later

"Aba," Red cracked open an eye. His room was pitch black. "Aba, up by you." Came a sweet, youthful voice. Red sat straight up in his bed and looked over the side. There stood his smeet. His magenta eyes glowed through the darkness.

"What's the matter, Z?" Red asked, tiredly. He scooped up his son and cradled him. "Scared?" ZIM shook his head. "Of course not. Why would you be scared? You're the almighty ZIM after all."

"I sleep wiv you?" The child gazed up at his father. Red smiled down at him.

"Of course, pup." Red laid ZIM next to him on his big, luxurious bed. "So why'd you pay me a visit this early in the morning if you weren't scared?"

"You scawed."

"_I'm _scared?" Red chuckled. ZIM nodded, with one of his tiny hand in his mouth to suck on. "So you thought that I was scared and needed to come to my rescue?"

"Aba scawed. ZIM bwave." Red laughed, laying on his side. Everyone found ZIM's speech impediment extremely cute. Sure it was cute now, but Red sure did hope he grew out of it before the age of five. Because as of right now, ZIM would address the Almighty Tallests as Wed and Puhpuh.

"I'm glad you came to protect me, Zimmy. You know how much I hate the dark." ZIM said nothing, continuing to suck on his hand. Red leant down to kiss the boy's head.

"Aba?"

"Yes, pup?"

"Don't be scawed." Red snorted.

"I can't be scared with you here, Z." Red rested his head on his pillow and drew ZIM closer to his body. ZIM pressed his head against his father's chest and closed his eyes. Red smiled, closing his eyes too. His son. His son and himself shared so many traits it was as if it was Red reborn into a different body. The little anklebiter was energetic, innocent, funny, and rather naughty. This wasn't just because of the fact that ZIM was yet a toddler. Oh no. Red was the same way when he was younger and still is to this day. ZIM would no doubt be just like his father.

A short while later, the softest of snores emitted from the tiny creature in Red's arms. The proud father glanced at his son again. It was the way ZIM slept that gave Red the idea for his nickname. His soft baby face looked so peaceful. His antenna slicked back in a passive way. His tongue lolled out of his mouth ever so slightly. When Red first looked upon his sleeping son, the nickname almost came to him instantaneously.

Pup.

Red let out a long sigh. He had a busy day and he needed as much sleep as possible. He shut his eyes once more and slowly drifted into slumber. Son in arms.

...

"We're traveling much too close to a blackhole. We need to change courses." An Irken navigator said.

"Agreed. But first we must to find a different route to the Namchurion galaxy." Another declared.

"We'll set course for the Northern Star Trail." Red told his navigators, pointing to a large holographic map on a table in front of them.

"That way we can travel through the hyper speed current. We'll get to the Namchurion's only one day late." Purple added. "Navigator Oli, tell the pilots to set a new course for-"

"Aba!" All the heads in the command room turned to see little ZIM in the entry way. Red stood straight.

"Yeah, Pup?"

"Aba, it bwoke."

"What bwo- ehm . . . _broke_." Red corrected himself.

"Umm . . . i-it was . . . umm." ZIM looked about him, not really focusing on the question. His eyes landed on Purple. "Unc-uh Puh!" ZIM ran, clumsily to the other Tallest and and jumped in his arms. Purple chuckled and gave the smeet a hug. Red just groaned.

"I swear the kid has A.D.D."

"He gets it from you, Red." Purple chuckled as ZIM playfully tugged at his antenna. "Zimmy, can you tell me what broke?" The smeet looked gazed up at Purple.

"Gen-atoh."

"Gen-atoh?" Purple echoed, inquiringly. "Generator?" ZIM smiled and nodded.

"It bwoke. No fix." ZIM admitted. The doors to the conference room bursted open and several frantic-looking pilots and mechanics entered.

"My Tallest, the Massive isn't progressing anywhere. The generator and back up malfunctioned. We're suspended in space until we find and fix the problem. It's extremely dangerous to be stationary this close to a blackhole." One mechanic said. Purple and Red shared a glance then both looked accusingly at ZIM.

"Uh oh." The boy squeaked. "Aba mad." Red sighed heavily.

"Take us to the engine room." The mechanics nodded and led their Tallests to a room on the far side of the ship. They came upon a large door. One mechanic slowly opened the door. The Tallest walked past him and into the room. Purple still holding the smeet. Red's eyes narrowed in search for the problem. His sight zeroed in on the generator. He knelt down to inspect it thoroughly. Finally his gaze rested upon something wedged in the belt of the machine. Red cocked a hairless brow and reached for it. He grabbed the object and gave it a powerful yank, releasing it from it's trap. The generator immediately started to sputter and restart.

Satisfied, Red looked down at the object in hand. It was one of ZIM's toys. A rubber plasma laser. The crimson tallest shook his head disapprovingly.

"Aba!" Red looked over his shoulder to his smeet. "Sowwy." Red chuckled.

"It's fine, Pup." Red reassured the boy. He then turned his attention to one of the pilots. "We need to make up for lost time. Double time speed. We have a quota for planet visitations to reach." The pilot gave Red a curt nod and went on his way. Purple smirked.

"Being a father really softens the heart, doesn't it?" He asked. Red bowed his head.

"It sure does." Red took his son out of Purple's care. "You're a mischievous, little child, Pup."

...

"My Tallest," Red and Purple looked up from their paper work sprawled across their desk to their advisor. ZIM was in his arms squirming around. The boy was covered from head to toe in what appeared to be a variety of foods.

"Oh no." Red groaned.

"We found him in the industrial kitchen feeding tonight's dinner to his pet Kurunge Dai." The advisor informed them. Red tilted his head confused.

"ZIM does not have a dog." Urii thrusted the young boy into Red's arms.

"With all do respect, My Tallest, I do believe ZIM has a sense of . . . loneliness. I mean, considering the fact that he's the only smeet on board." Urii said. "He's making up imaginary friends for his own amusement and in a way it's making him a bit . . . rambunctious."

"What are you proposing, Urii?" Red looked back down at his notes.

"Well sir, I'm suggesting you get him a pet. So he can be preoccupied with a friend. In also doing this, ZIM will stay out of the way and cause less messes."

"Are you saying my boy is a hindrance?" Red shifted his eyes up, glaring at the advisor.

"Of course not, sir! He's a blessing!" Urii saved himself. "He's just young and curious, therefore, a natural troublemaker." Red shook his head.

"We're not getting a Kurunge Dai." Red muttered. Purple frowned at his younger brother.

"Red, think about it. Getting ZIM a companion would probably be good for him. And the armada." Purple said.

"No."

"Aba!" ZIM stood in Red's lap wrapping his tiny arms around his father's neck.

"What, Pup?"

"I make food!" ZIM presented his messy body to Red. The stressed father sighed. Red stood up with his son cradled in his arms.

"I'm going to clean him. Purple, will you finish?" The violet Tallest grunted for having even more work dumped on him.

"I suppose." He muttered as Red left. As soon as Purple was sure his brother was out of hearing range he looked to Urii. "We're gonna get that kid a dog, Urii. Set course to Irken owned planet, Optra."

...

"Why has the Massive stopped moving?" Red demanded, bursting into the control centre. The pilots jumped at Red's loud voice. "Why did we turn starboard in the dead of night? We're supposed to be going to Aiery for planetary protocol!"

"Calm yourself, Red." Purple's quiet voice came from behind him. A hand rested on Red's shoulder. "I told them to do that."

"Why? Are you forgetting that we have an empire to run?" Red exclaimed. Purple craned his head to the mass of Irken soldiers behind him. He gave them a curt nod, holding ZIM in his arms. The soldiers all parted revealing a tall, four-legged creature, ears perked, head held high with pride. Red's jaw dropped.

"Is that a-"

"Doggy!" ZIM squealed. "Aba, doggy!" ZIM wriggled out of Purple's grasp and ran straight towards the big animal.

"ZIM no!" Red shouted.

"Relax. She's well trained and good with kids." Purple said. "That mutt costed me a heavy expense, however. You owe me fifteen hundred monies."

"You spent fifteen hundred on a Kurunge Dai?" Red snapped. Purple put his hands up in defense.

"What can I say? I love my nephew." Red's face twisted with anger until he saw his son's beaming smile as he ran his dainty little hands across the tan, short-furred dog's coat. Red's features softened. He turned back to his brother.

"If that dog so much as nips my ZIM, she's going out of the airlock."

* * *

A Kurunge Dai is an Irken equivalent of a dog, but it has wings! I did not create this marvelous beast. Kazehana23 did. (Go to her profile and you'll find a link to her deviantart account. There you'll find the Irken dog! Go now! It looks sooo cool!) Thanks for letting me use it Kaze! (Haha, I abbreviated your name.)

Thanks for reading! Sorry it took awhile to update.

Feel free to review if you feel so inclined.


	4. Missing

Did I forget to mention that the Tallest also don't wear those fancy dress garbs? They only wear those at ceremonies. All other casual days they dress like soldiers in suits and other things.

* * *

He was put in charge of his nephew. So in order to remain a trustworthy smeetsitter, Purple was sure to keep a wary eye on ZIM. Especially now that he had a Kurunge Dai as a pet. The dog seemed to take a liking to ZIM, however. Treating him gently and being tolerant of his need to pull at her ears and fur coat.

"Uncuh Puh!" Purple looked up from the handheld computer in his hands to his nephew. Little ZIM was chasing the Kurunge Dai around the living quarters of the Massive. "Awa fast!" Purple smiled.

"Yes, she's a lot faster than any of us could be." He took a step to the side when the big dog ran passed him. He bent down and scooped ZIM up for a tight hug when he came by to get her. "Hey, don't you be running all around the Massive all careless-like, okay? We don't want anything broken and we especially don't want you getting hurt either, Zimmy."

"Down!" ZIM demanded, making grabby hands for his pet.

"Promise you won't run off?"

"Awa! I pway Awa!" He squirmed to get his uncle to loosen the grip he hand on him. Purple chuckled, blowing a raspberry kiss on ZIM's cheek making him cackle his sweet laugh.

"Alright, you go play with Aurora." Purple set the restless smeet down. As soon as ZIM's tiny feet touched the ground he was off like a bullet once more, in search for his dog. Soon he disappeared from sight and the only thing left in the rowdy child's wake was his dropped and forgotten white, fleece blanket he had since birth. The violet-eyed tallest picked up the throw, folding it before resting it on one of their sofas in the living room.

He glanced at the time seeing as it was getting late and Red was still not back from his run to one of the nearby planets. Purple shrugged it off and walked to his own personal quarter next to his twin's and nephew's. He'd sleep off his long day and when he woke up, Red would be back and he'd no longer have to monitor ZIM every second of the day.

...

A loud banging noise awoken him from his slumber. He peered at the time and saw it's only been two hours since he fell asleep. Groggily, Tallest Purple got up from his giant bed and trudged over to the door, not bothering to put on a shirt again. He pressed his palm against the key pad and it slid open revealing two hectic-looking ship hands.

"What is it?" Purple mumbled, rubbing his eye.

"Uhh . . . We can't find ZIM, my Tallest." One said. Purple suddenly snapped out of his tired daze and went into shock.

"What do you mean, 'You _can't _find him'?" He questioned, threateningly.

"He's just gone." The other said, shaking slightly.

"Well he couldn't have left!" Purple shouted. "He's gotta be somewhere on the Massive unless he managed to figure out the airlock-" Purple cut himself off, eyes wide with insuppressible fright, completely frozen in his place. "My God." Purple pushed the two shorter Irkens out of his way and took off down the halls of the Massive in haste, bumping into crew members as he went. He shouted orders to them. "All hands, look for ZIM! Search every place imaginable! I don't care if you have to tear this place apart to find him! Just find him!" Irkens scattered about in a frantic search for the missing smeet. "And no one speaks a word of this to Red when he gets back! Understand?" Purple bit his lip hard, fearing that the worst case scenario he thought up proves to be wrong.

Irkens ran left and right, searching high and low for the missing child. Purple was starting to get hysterical after five minutes of continuous search and still nothing. Purple stormed down the hallways, stopping at every door he came across to peak inside and call ZIM's name. He kept calling but to no avail. Soon everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs to the hidden smeet. Now it was at this time when the uncle was quaking uncontrollably. ZIM would've heard all the hands call his name by now if he were still on the ship. Purple was nearly in tears when he felt someone touch his shoulder. He whirled around and came face-to-face with his slightly younger brother. His heart stopped for a split second.

"Red!" Purple gasped. "What are you doing back so soon?" Red raised a brow.

"Soon? I was gone for ten hours . . . Where's your shirt?" He pointed out. All the crew members stopped in their search to see the red Tallest's reaction. "And why is everyone yelling ZIM's name?" Purple looked about him to the crew, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"We were . . ." Purple started, thinking as he went along. "We were all taking a break and . . ."

"Playing find the smeet!" One particularly enthusiastic technician said. Purple scowled at the man but then turned back to his twin with a wide, fake as plastic, smile.

"Yeah! I figured you were taking too long to get back and we were all done with our work so we played . . . hide and go seek. And ZIM won."

"He _is _a good hider." Red said, proudly. "Alright, Zimmy! Come out now!"

"Ehh. Don't strain yourself. You had a long day already. Why don't you just go to your quarters and rest. I'll put ZIM down to bed." Purple suggested, pushing his brother towards the Tallests living quarters. Red gave him a suspicious look but nonetheless, did as Purple had said. As soon as Red was gone out of antenna-shot range, he glared at the hands once more. "Go! Now! All of you will not rest till you find him!" The Irkens jumped slightly and ran off to obey the command, resuming their efficient search for ZIM.

Morning rolled around and by two AM the Massive's team all seemed tired and defeated. Purple was nearly retching and was about to send a search party out of the Massive to see if ZIM somehow got suspended into space.

What was he going to tell Red?

"My Tallest?" Purple looked down to one soldier. "We've looked everywhere, Sir. I'm afraid ZIM is nowhere to be found." He said regretfully. Purple pressed his fist to his mouth, not allowing tears to escape his eyes. He shuddered, body racking at his failure to keep an eye on a toddler. His nephew. His _only _nephew. The only Irken in the universe that mattered to Purple as much as his brother. He hung his head low.

"I'll be in Tallest Red's quarters." Purple whispered, slowly walking away. The crew all went into a collective chatter of bewilderment at Purple giving up. They all sadly went into their separate chambers as well.

The whole walk there, Purple contemplated on how he'd break the news to Red. What would he say? What would he _do_? He punched their advisor when he told him that his wife was killed. What would Red do if Purple told him that his son was missing? Oh, he was in hot water. Whatever Red belted out at him though, he knew he'd deserve it.

"God, why am I such an idiot." Purple muttered, standing in front of the door to his brother's room. He waited awhile, taking a deep breath in. ZIM's been missing for six hours now. He had to let his brother know. Purple pressed his palm to the key pad, allowing the door to slide open before going in. It was dark in the room. He made his way over to the side of Red's bed. Purple stopped in his tracks at what he saw when he got closer. Red was laying on his back, sprawled out, sleeping peacefully. The Kurunge Dai was the the foot of the bed curled up. And there he was. ZIM. Sleeping against the dog who was cuddling the smeet. ZIM's face was soft and calm as if nothing had happened.

That's why he didn't hear us calling. He sleeps as if he were dead. Purple nearly fell to his knees in relief.

"Oh thank you, Lord." He said a bit louder than intended.

"You find him?" Purple yelped at the other voice. He looked down at his brother who had waken. "Because he was here the whole time, you moron." Purple scowled as Red chuckled.

"That's not funny! I thought I lost him."

"Well yeah. I knew that from the moment I walked in." Red sat up stretching a bit. "Always know that whenever you can't find ZIM, check my room. He always ends up here eventually." Red gave his twin a cocky smile. "You may want to make an announcement to the crew to rest easy and that you found ZIM." Purple grumbled under his breath, giving his brother the finger while muttering profanities at Red as he left.

"You could've told me where he was, dumbass. God, you're such an asshole." Red snickered to himself, plucking ZIM from the dog and resting the smeet on his chest, when the door closed again. He laid back and continued his sleep.

...

Red sighed irritatedly when he felt his leg being head-butted again.

"ZIM, I told you I don't have time to play with you right now."

"Awa siiick!" The youngster whined. Red ignored him and continued to work. ZIM pouted and bumped his head against his father's thigh. Red didn't bother to look down. He kept leaning over the computer board attempting to fix it. "Aba! Up by you!"

"ZIM, please. I'm trying to work." Red groaned, his smeet getting on his last nerves.

"Awa sick! She tiwed. I pway wiv you!" ZIM threw his short arms around Red's leg, gripping tightly to his dad's pants as he buried his face into Red's thigh. The man rubbed his temples.

"Well, since Ara is sick, why don't you go comfort her? . . . What does she have anyway?"

"She make yuckys fwom huh face."

"Ugh," Red groaned. "She's not vomiting all over the floor I hope?" ZIM shrugged.

"Awa ate ucky food and now she sick." ZIM started to crawl up the side of his standing father, grabbing handfuls of his dad's clothing to climb up. He only got to Red's hip before he started to slip. Red caught ZIM before he went tumbling back.

"Listen, why don't you go bother Uncle Pur for a little while?"

"He's tawkin' to his wady-fweind." ZIM said. Red raised a brow.

"Lady friend?" He smirked. ZIM nodded.

"Nata."

"Invader Nata?" ZIM nodded again, shoving his hand into his mouth. Red pulled ZIM's fist out. "Where is he?" ZIM shrugged, putting his hand back into his mouth. Red smiled. "Well then . . . Why don't we go find Uncle Pur, huh? Pay him a little visit?"

"Uncuh Puh!" ZIM beamed, pulling his palm out of his mouth. He grabbed his dad's face with his now saliva-drenched hand and other dry hand. Red cringed at the wetness on his cheek.

"Alright then. Lets go look for him." Red walked out of his office, smeet in arms, down the hall of the Massive to one of the private communication rooms. Red quietly entered, telling ZIM to be silent as they stealthily watched the purple Tallest.

Purple was standing in front of a huge monitor projecting an image of the Invader, ZIM mentioned a moment ago. He was talking and laughing with her. Purple's back was facing them so he had yet to notice their presents. Red took note of the twinkle in the dark pink eyes of Nata. Red could tell by Purple's body movements and they way he was talking that he was falling. Not literally, but emotionally. Red smiled slyly.

"Oooh! I'm sensing the feeling of love here!" Red chirped. Purple gasped, spinning around to look at his brother.

"Red!"

"I'm getting this aura emitting off of you, Purps." Red joked. "What do you think it is, Zimmy?" ZIM chortled, pointing at his uncle.

"You wike Nata!" Purple blushed heavily. He faced the screen again.

"I'll call you back, Nata." He said, briefly then cut the transmission. Purple growled. "Red! Why must you do this to me?"

"Oh relax, Purry." Red said, nonchalantly. "You've fallen in love plenty times before. I thought you'd be used to my taunting by now."

"You usually scare my girlfriends away." Purple grumbled. "Please do me a favor and don't mingle this time." Red shook his head.

"I would never!" Purple narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah," He mumbled, leaving the room. "Right." Purple crossed his arms across his chest, sourly.

"She's not even my girlfriend." He said, stubbornly. ZIM giggled.

"Uncuh Puh wike her." Purple pursed his lips.

"Oh yeah? And what would you know, Squirt?" He asked, taking ZIM from Red and squeezing the smeet's sides making him shriek with adorable fits of laughter. He chuckled along with ZIM as they continued their play. Red smiled shaking his head at the two.

"Cute." He said simply as he left to finish up his work.


	5. Ill

He held his stance, perfectly still and tight. His determined look gave him an intimidating appearance. He used this method of intimidation to make up for his small stature. His ruby eyes were fixated on his opponent, much taller than he. He furrowed his hairless brow, a smirk plastered his dark, green face with exhilaration of the sparring that was about to commence.

His adversary had a similar look on his features. The taller smiled warmly.

"Are you ready, Pup?" He asked. The boy beamed.

"As ready as I can be." Came his reply, in his high, peppy voice. ZIM and Red nodded to each other, then without another word, attacked the other. Red using his height and strength advantage to try restraining and pinning his son. ZIM using his quickness and agility to dodge and juke away from the attacks. ZIM slid in between his father's legs to avoid a light punch traveling toward his head. He jumped up and roundhouse kicked the back of Red's knees making him topple to the ground. Red chuckled and spun around grabbing ZIM's wrist and hoisting him up in the air as he stood. ZIM kicked his foot out and caught Red right in the spooch. Red gasped, dropping ZIM and kneeling over. ZIM took this opportunity to jump on his father's back and attempt to use his weight to bring his dad all the way down. No such luck, ZIM being much too light. Red barely noticed ZIM on his back. Red reached behind him and taking a hold of ZIM's ankle, swinging him off and throwing him a short distance away. ZIM laid, sprawled out in the floor. The next thing he knew, he was pinned underneath his father's booted foot.

"You managed to stay in the fight for half a minute instead of five seconds this time! That's a big improvement." Red removed his foot from off his son's chest. ZIM sat up, a bitter expression pressed on his face.

"Just once, I'd like to win." The young boy, grumbled. He crossed his arms, looking down at his lap. "Why don't you ever go easy on me?" Red offered a hand to his son. ZIM took it and allowed himself to be pulled up by his father. Red picked him up and set him on his hip.

"Will your enemy go easy on you if you ask?" Red questioned. ZIM puckered his lips, knowing his father had a point.

"I'm only five. I don't think I have any enemies." Red chuckled.

"Don't worry, Pup. You'll be a fierce warrior one day." Red nuzzled ZIM's face, making the young Irken giggle, cutely.

"I hope to grow to be as tall and strong as you, Aba." ZIM said. Red gave his smeet a warm smile.

"Don't worry, babe. You will be." Red kissed the smeet's temple and let him down.

"Sir," A tall Irken entered the combat training room. "The new officers and techs are here." Red straightened himself, looking as professional as he could be while out of uniform.

"Great. Send them to the command room for orientation." Red started to walk out.

"You may want to put a shirt on first, my Tallest." The Irken said. Red looked down at his half naked self. He then shifted his gaze to ZIM. The boy was smiling broadly.

"You won't look professional until you cover those scars all over your body." ZIM said, smartly. Red rolled his eyes. ZIM wasn't just talking about his battle scars, he was referring to Red's many tattoos littering his body that he got in his academy days. Back when he was young and stupid.

"You're probably right." Red walked to the edge of the room where he dropped his plain, black T-shirt. He hastily put it on. "Come, ZIM. It's time you meet some new friends." Red eyed the Kurunge Dai in the corner, sleeping. "_Irken _friends." Red grabbed ZIM's hand and led him out and down the vast halls of the Massive until they finally reached their destination. When they entered the command bay, twenty Irkens were lined up according to their rank. The other crew members were surrounding the new recruits. They all erected themselves and saluted once Red and ZIM entered. Red returned the salute. "At ease." He told them. "Where is our other Tallest?" Red asked Urii. Just as Red spoke those words Purple came bursting through the entry way, out of breath. Red furrowed his brow. "Do I need to know?" Purple leaned up against the wall, trying to catch his breath.

"Invader El . . . made it very clear . . . that she," Purple coughed from speaking in between breaths. "Hates me." He finished. The crew looked at Purple in befuddlement, wondering what the Tallest could have possibly of done to tick off one of the invaders.

"Yeah, I don't want to know." Red muttered. The mentioned invader entered the room and stood amongst the other crew mates, glaring at Purple. Red cleared his throat.

"Welcome to the Massive, fellow Irkens. You all should be very proud of yourselves for getting promoted to such an important role in Irken society." Red announced. He looked at two specific Irkens waiting in line. "Tech Hurl, Captain Sibyl." A short, squat male tech and tall, thin female captain took a step forward out of line and saluted. "It came to my understanding that you two have children of your own." The two only nodded. Red grinned as ZIM's antenna perked up.

"Children?" He asked. Purple turned to three guards at the entrance of the bay.

"Bring them in." The guards nodded and left promptly. As soon as they left, they entered again, this time escorting two short Irkens. ZIM's eyes widened with surprise and excitement. Purple gently pushed ZIM toward the new, young Irkens. "ZIM, we would like to introduce you to Tak, daughter of Captain Sibyl and Skoode, son of Tech Hurl." ZIM looked at his two peers. Both were taller than him, especially the female.

"Why don't you get to know them as we talk to the newcomers." Purple urged him on. ZIM glanced back from his uncle to the smeets. "Go on." ZIM pursed his lips and slowly walked over to the other children. The guards brought the three of them out of the command center and brought them to ZIM's personal quarters instead. They walked, wordlessly down the halls. The newbies looked around with astonishment, never before seeing such a huge vessel. ZIM kept his eyes fixed ahead of him. The guards led them to ZIM's lounging room just outside of his bedroom. ZIM sat on the ground, beckoning the new kids to sit by him as he tinkered with a old motor from a broken machine. The guards stood watch at the door.

"So . . . How old are you guys?" ZIM wondered, not looking up at them.

". . . Seven." Replied the chubby boy, shyly.

"Ten." Said the girl. ZIM shifted his eyes up to her. No wonder she was so much taller. "Or rather, almost ten. I'm nine until a week from now." ZIM looked down again.

"I just turned five." He mumbled. Silence. Moments gone by without another word.

"What are you doing?" ZIM glanced at the girl.

"Tuk?"

"Tak."

"Tak, sorry." ZIM scratched his head. "I'm taking apart and putting together a motor from one of the Massive's generators."

"Why? Seems like a waste of time." She said. ZIM sighed.

"It kinda is." He pushed the motor away from him. So far, his new 'friends' were in the awkward first meeting stage. Hopefully he'll break the ice soon. "What kinds of things do you guys like?" Skoodge fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I like animals and reading." He said, timidly. ZIM beamed.

"Antonie?" ZIM turned to one of the guards.

"Yes, Prince ZIM?"

"Can you bring Ara in here?" ZIM asked. The guard nodded, leaving the room.

"Who's Ara?" Tak asked. ZIM grinned.

"You'll see."

...

"Where are the kids?" Red asked the three guards who were suppose to be watching them. The guards looked to one another.

"Well . . ." One guard began. Before he could say anymore, Ara came bounding in the living quarters with ZIM on her back. Skoodge and Tak followed the Kurunge Dai in, laughing.

"Faster, Ara!" ZIM squeaked, joyously. Red's eyes went wide.

"ZIM, off the dog! I told you, you may not ride her!" The dog came running by Red. The Tallest plucked ZIM off the animal's back as Ara went running by. "What'd I say?" Red turned him around to glare at the boy. ZIM groaned.

"Aba, not in front of my friends." Red gave ZIM a hard look, before setting the smeet down.

"Do not ride her like that. If you fall you could get seriously hurt." Red warned. ZIM trotted back to his friends and talked with them animatedly. "That boy is too zealous for his own good."

"He's jus excited to see some other Irkens his age for once." Purple spoke up from behind him.

"Yeah, I suppose he is." Red said. "ZIM, it's getting late. Let's get you ready for bed." Another groan emitted from the smeet.

"But dad, we were still playing." ZIM whined.

"Come, ZIM."

"But-"

"Now." Red said more sternly. ZIM closed his mouth and trudged to his father. "You'll be seeing them everyday for as long as their parents stay on the Massive." ZIM watched as two guards led Tak and Skoodge out to bring them to their parent's quarters. Red scooped ZIM up and brought him to the bathing room and set the small child down as he drew a bath. Once the water was hot and running he started to undress his son. "You have fun today?" Red lifted ZIM's shirt up and over his head.

"Yeah. Skoodge is really quiet but nice. Tak is pretty cool. She can dance good and she likes drawing." ZIM said, allowing his dad to pull down his pants.

"I'm glad you've finally found some real friends." Red said. ZIM looked up at his dad.

"What do you mean? Aurora is my friend." Red didn't respond. He just picked up his now naked smeet and placed him in the warm water. Red grabbed a bottle of body wash a squeezed some of the contents of the bottle into his hand before rubbing it all over his child. "Aba?"

"Yes, Pup?"

"Tak and Skoodge have mamas." Red froze. ZIM gazed up at him with his big, round, magenta eyes. The eyes that reminded Red too much of his late wife. Red swallowed hard.

"I'm sure they do. What else did you guys do today?" Red asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Tak taught me about star constellations." ZIM replied, struggling over the last word's pronunciation. "Do I have a mama?" Red bit his lip. The boy was too sharp to trick. Red scrubbed ZIM's chest and tummy. He then got an idea that would distract ZIM from his questions.

"Hey, Zimmy."

"Yeah?"

"Are you ticklish?" ZIM gave his father a confused look. Just as ZIM was about to ask what his dad meant by his question, Red started to tickle the smeet's spooch. ZIM squealed and cackled loudly.

"Abahaha!" ZIM splashed some water up at his father. Red chuckled as water dripped down his face. ZIM laughed, squirming away out if his father's reach. Red leant over the tub to splash ZIM back but lost his balance an went toppling over the side into the tub as well. This made ZIM laugh even louder in his sweet, juvenile voice. "Now it's your bath time!" ZIM chirped. Flinging his arms around Red's neck, ZIM beamed happily. Red laughed with his smeet sitting up in the tub, his pants and shirt now drenched. Red embraced the gleeful boy back. "I love you, Aba." Red smiled, warmly.

"I love you too, Pup."

...

"I don't want to see Mr. Retchaw. He's mean and smells funny."

"He's not mean . . . And I told you to ignore his smell. He works in the engine room when he's not teaching you so you have to expect him to smell like exhaust."

"He is too mean." ZIM mumbled. "He said I got a question wrong and docked two points off instead of one."

"Is that it?" Red asked.

"No . . ." ZIM grumbled, trailing off.

"Well, you're just going to have to deal with seeing Mr. Retchaw. You need an education if you want to be in the military one day." ZIM crossed his arms, healing by his dad. Red led him down the long corridors of the Massive until they stopped by one door on the right at the end of the hall. Red punched in the passcode and the door slid open. Inside, a simple office with a small rectangular table in the center. A man with green eyes sat on the end of the table with an empty seat on the man's right. ZIM scowled.

"Abaaa . . ." ZIM whined, sweetly. "I don't feel well." Red pushed his son through the door gently.

"You're lying. Now take your seat and behave." ZIM moaned in protest but his father's stern look was enough to convince him. ZIM trudged to the table and took a seat on the left side of the man. The man's face was emotionless. His voice even more so.

"It's good to see you, Prince ZIM. Shall we continue yesterday's lesson?" ZIM muttered his response.

"No, we shouldn't." Mr. Retchaw ignored ZIM and slid a tablet over to ZIM. He instructed ZIM to start the tablet and find the carbon-copy of a Irken history text book. Once ZIM found the virtual book, Retchaw continued to drone on about the Irken civil war and how the empire nearly made itself fall. ZIM rested his head in his hand, only half listening to the speech given to him.

The boy's mind drifted from the lesson over to Tak and Skoodge. They were lucky. Their parents were their teachers. ZIM's dad was much too busy to be able to take time off and give ZIM his lessons himself. The only thing his dad ever taught him was combat. And that was when he had the ever so rare time.

It's been six months. Six months since he started these tutoring sessions and it did nothing to ZIM's brain. Mostly because he would pay attention. And the teacher did smell. Like fuel and smoke. It made ZIM's lungs tickle. But the boy refrained from coughing every session, not wanting to be rude. And the teacher was so monotonous that he often put the smeet to sleep.

Sleep. That sounded good right now . . . ZIM didn't know why he had to wake up so early just to go to these tutoring sessions. He'd much rather play with Aurora, Tak, Skoodge, or even his daddy! But _nooo_. He was stuck doing boring, useless assignments.

ZIM jumped, yelping in pain when he felt something smack the back of his head. The smeet rubbed the sore area, one eye closed, the other narrowing in on Mr. Retchaw.

"Please, Prince ZIM," The man set the ruler he'd been holding, down. "Pay attention. You'll be having a pop quiz on this later today." ZIM groaned, slouching back in his seat.

"I was paying attention."

"Really now?"

"Yes." Retchaw gave the young Irken a skeptical look.

"Well, it really looked like you were asleep there for a moment, but since you claim you were awake, you'll be able to tell me what former Tallest was in power during the Great Irken Civil War." ZIM bit his lip, looking down at the tablet's screen trying to find the answer. The teacher powered down the tablet using one of the side buttons. "Don't cheat." ZIM fidgeted with his fingers.

"Umm . . . Tallest KinZee?" ZIM guessed. Retchaw shook his head.

"Try again. Who was the Tallest before your dad and uncle?"

"Tallest Spork."

"Good. And who was before him?"

"Miyuki." ZIM said.

"There you go. And who's side was she on? Was she for Blorchian slavery, or against it?"

"Ffffooo- Against it?" ZIM answered. Retchaw's face was unreadable.

"Correct. Now please, Your Highness, listen to my teachings." ZIM rested his head in his hands as the teacher resumed the lesson. ZIM could almost scream with boredom. Oh how he wished he didn't have to be bothered with school.

...

Red waited anxiously outside the room of his son for the medic drone to come. Purple was beside him with a serene look on his face with a few guards surrounding the room. Aurora was by Purple's side, staring intensely at ZIM's door. Red paced back and forth.

"Where is she?" Red asked.

"Red, relax. She has to walk all the way from the west wing of the Massive. That in itself is a five minute journey." Purple ensured his little brother.

"It's been seven minutes since she was called, Pur!" Red snapped. Purple just rolled his eyes.

"You are such a worrier." Purple said. "Just cool it. Will ya?"

Finally, a young medic came running into the Tallests' living quarters.

"Apologies, Sire. I was treating a wounded solider." She said. Red scowled at her. "Now, where is the Prince?" Red turned to his son's room and pressed his hand against the palm scanner. The door slid open. Red led the medic in as he started to explain what was wrong with ZIM.

"His skin is yellowish and pale. He's been shaking uncontrollably. And he's having a hard time breathing. This has been going on since this morning and I'm not sure what it is." Red went to the edge of a large bed where his son was snuggled up in the covers, shivering. Red sat on the side and put his hand on ZIM's forehead. "And he's burning up." The medic nodded and went to the edge as well.

"Prince ZIM?" She said, kindly. A smile on her face. ZIM cracked open an eye. "Can you please sit up for me, sweetheart?" The boy moaned.

"I-I'm cold." He said with chattery teeth. The medic's eyes softened.

"Ooh." She cooed. "How about you sit up for just a moment and then you can go back to your warm covers?" ZIM whimpered. Red looked down with concern. He slid an arm underneath his son's torso and pulled him into his lap. Red felt awful when he set ZIM on him. The boy was shaking so bad it was as if he was in the middle of a seizure.

"Abaaa . . ." Red wrapped ZIM up in a tight hug, trying his best to warm his child. He nuzzled his face into ZIM's head, comforting the boy as much as possible. "My body hurts." The medic took the stethoscope from around her neck and placed it on her head.

"Can you remove his shirt?" She asked Red. The father complied and took off his smeet's sweat drenched T. The medic placed the stethoscope on ZIM's chest and listened for his heartbeat. "Oh dear. That's quite the rapid tempo he's got going on there." She said, mostly to herself. ZIM wheezed then coughed hard. Blood-tinged spittle and mucus flew from his mouth. A stream of drool oozed from his lips. Red used his hand to wipe the saliva off ZIM's chin and cheeks. Red kissed ZIM's antenna.

"You're alright, Pup. Just take deep breaths." ZIM gasped for air. His body wracked as he felt a new sensation build up inside him.

"I-I'm gonna throw-" Before ZIM could finish, he doubled over and retched all over his bed. Red cringed as a few droplets got on his royal garb. He rubbed ZIM's back. The boy cried as the contents of his stomach was spilt. Soon there was nothing left to upchuck except for bitter spit. Red could only watch hopelessly as his son continued to dry heave. Every wave got more and more painful for the young child. Eventually, the need to vomit ceased and ZIM was practically wailing for it to end. The medic drone wrote on a computer tablet reaching her diagnostic.

"My Tallest," She started. Red looked to her with a fearful expression. "He has pneumonia. It's deadly if not treated, so I'm going to prescribe him with some antibiotics that he should take at least twice a day until he feels better. We'll also have to find out where he picked up this bacteria so he doesn't get it again." Red sucked in his breath. This was scary for him. His son was sick in his arms and he could do nothing for him. He just had to hope the antibiotics worked. Red laid ZIM back down in his bed. He dismissed the guards and medic drone so she could retrieve the medicine. Red stayed behind with ZIM. The Tallest knelt by the bed. ZIM laid on his back. Chest rising and falling to his rapid, shallow breathing. Eyes squeezed shut. Red stripped away the vomit-soiled blanket and replaced it with a clean, fleece throw. The father placed his palm on ZIM's forehead feeling just how hot ZIM truly was. He was so sickly and weak and vulnerable.

"Aba . . . Did she say I was dying?" ZIM whimpered. His face was grimacing. His voice was shaky with fright. Red gulped.

"No, Pup, no. You're not dying. You're just sick. Your body is just not well. It'll go away soon." Red reassured him. Kissing his son's temple, Red whispered in the boy's antenna to keep him calm. ZIM looked like a wreck. "Sleep for now, Pup. You're tired." The tiny Irken relaxed as best as his fever allowed him. His dad caressing his face to sooth him. "You'll be alright, ZIM. I'll be sure of it."

* * *

Fact: I take too long to update this story.

Question: How are you guys liking the story so far? Reply via Review, PM, or on my Tumblr if you wish. Or you can ask a question! (It's open to anonymous reviewers) I haven't got a chance to use my Tumblr too much yet. Mostly because I can't draw or figure out what to post . . . Anyway! Do whatever, I don't care!

Happy reading!


	6. Company

A concerned father held his smeet in his arms. Not ever letting go for as long as the child was ill. The proud father cradled his boy close to him, feeling the boy shiver uncontrollably, his teeth chattering.

"Aba," ZIM whined. "My body hurts everywhere."

"You're having muscle aches, ZIM. That's normal." Red shushed him. "It'll be alright, Pup. Hang in there."

"The medicine didn't work." ZIM said. His eyes were closed tightly as if trying to find rest. Red's eyes softened immensely.

"Don't fret, Pup. It takes awhile to get better sometimes." Red kissed the boy's antenna, gently stroking ZIM's cheek with the back of his fingers to sooth him as much as he could. Red shifted him, being able to feel just how sweaty the kid was.

"Aba, I'd rather be in school." Red cooed sympathetically.

"I know you hurt, Pup. Just hang in there." Red curled his smeet up closer to his face and nuzzled the ill child. The two remained like that until a knock was heard at ZIM's door. Red perked his antenna, lifting his head. He then looked back down at his son. "I'll be right back, Pup." Red set the little Irken down on his bed and got up to answer the door.

"My everywhere hurts." ZIM mumbled.

"It's just body aches, babe. Hang in there." Red whispered, reassuringly. The father rubbed his tired eyes as he made his way to the door. He pressed his palm to the scanning pad and the door slid open to reveal his slightly older brother. "What brings you here?" Purple crossed his arms.

"Red, can you part from your son for an hour? You have a duty, ya know. We need to be at a maintenance and staff meeting right now." Red bit his lip, shifting his eyes to the bed where the shivering smeet lay.

"I need for someone to watch him."

"Tak and Skoodge can talk with him for a the hour. They'll be fine as long as they keep their distance from him." Red looked down, sighing heavily. After a moment he nodded in agreement.

"I just don't understand how he got sick. Everywhere he goes on the Massive is clean and tidy. The only unclean parts of the ship is the engine room . . . Wait a minute." Red was struck with realization. Purple cocked a brow.

"What?"

"ZIM's tutor works in the engine room. He always complained how Mr. Retchaw smelled and he'd always leave from his sessions coughing." Red stated. Purple tilted his head to the side.

"You think he may have gotten pneumonia from his teacher?"

"If Mr. Retchaw works in the engine room, he's probably covered from head to toe in foreign bacteria." Red said. "And the engine workers only get to bathe three times a week."

"If your suspicions that Mr. Retchaw may have indirectly gave ZIM a virus prove to be correct, how do you plan on going about with the situation?"

"Well I'd have no choice but to relieve him from the extra duty." Red scratched his head. "Call for a nurse, Pur. Have him or her take samples of ZIM's saliva to see if the bacteria is from the engine room." Purple gave his brother a curt nod then took off down the hall.

"Be in the conference room in three minutes, Red. We don't want to wait like last time." Purple said, before disappearing from sight. Red groaned. He just wanted to stay by his son. The poor boy sounded like he was dying every time he went into a coughing fit. Occasionally blood would be found in the tissue ZIM was sneezing and coughing into. It hurt Red to see the child like this.

Red looked back into the room. Ara was on ZIM's bed now, snuggling up behind the boy in a warming manner. Like a mother holding her newborn, Ara was careful with ZIM. The animal was quite aware of the size differential between her large being and ZIM's small frame. Only once has the Kurunge-Dai accidentally laid atop ZIM and that was when he hid himself under a blanket on his bed so the beast did not see when she jumped upon his mattress. This incident did not hurt ZIM. He was lucky to be able to shake it off and laugh about it.

"Pup, I have to go to a meeting for a little while. Do you want to rest or have Tak and Skoodge keep you company?" ZIM weakly opened one eye.

"I wanna see my friends." ZIM mumbled. Red rested a hand on ZIM's forehead to see if his temperature went down any. It hasn't. If anything, it felt like it was climbing.

"We need to get you more antibiotics." Red whispered, mostly to himself. He leant down to kiss ZIM's sweaty cheek. "Tak and Skoodge will be here in a minute. You just hang in there, Pup." ZIM didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes once more and curled up alongside the beast in his bed. With one final look at his precious smeet, Red turned on his heals and headed out the door and down the corridors of the Massive to the conference room for the meet.

...

"Wanna play tag?"

"Nuh."

"Hide and seek?"

"Nuh."

"Invaders and soldiers?"

"_Nuh!_"

"Skoodge, don't you see? He's sick and he's tired. He doesn't want to play, he wants to rest. We're only here for his comfort."

"I'm sorry! I thought he was bored."

"I am. But I can't move without feeling the need to faint." ZIM went into a raging coughing fit. His two friends cringed at the painful wheezing emitting from ZIM's throat. Once the coughing subsided, ZIM rested his diaphragm once more, his eyes slipping shut. Ara licked his face in a loving manner. "The doctor gave me more medicine but it's not helping." ZIM whimpered.

"It takes time to feel better from pneumonia, ZIM. You'll recover in a few more days, I'm sure of it." Tak reassured. ZIM's eyes opened ever so slightly. He licked his chapped lips, sighing heavily.

"I hope you're right."

...

". . . and what's the child's name?" A voice hissed, lowly. An eerie sound coming from an unidentifiable being on a unrecognizable ship.

"ZIM." Another voice with the same tone answered.

"ZIM? That's what the Tallest named him? I would think he'd have a more royal name. Is it short for anything?"

"No, sir. Just ZIM. After the late General Hyacinth's father. ZIM the First." A grunt from the listener. "ZIM is the pride of the Irken race, milord. He'll be worth a bountiful amount of monies."

"Their Empire would give much to keep him safe." Another voice chimed. "Me thinks the child is worth more than two ships full of platinum."

"Tallest Red would give the Empire up for the well being of his son. His brother would do the same."

"Indeed they would, Colonel . . . Arrange plans for his capture." The first voice ordered.

"Yes, sir." Was their response.

"I want the Tallest's son by dawn."

* * *

This was short. And I apologize for that. But I must warn ya guys, I have two jobs and I'm kinda struggling with school right now. But here ya go for now!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Ransom

"Aba, I'm bored."

"Yes, but you need to stay in bed for a few more days."

"But I feel better."

"ZIM, I told you, you don't feel better. You're still sick, the medications you took just numbed you."

"I wanna play with Ara."

"ZIM-"

"And Tak and Skoodge."

"ZIM, just wait a few more days. Okay? You're still not well. In fact . . . I think you may be getting worse." Red looked down at his lap, sighing. It's been three days already since his little smeet has first gotten sick. Usually after three days pneumonia would go away but this bacteria that infected ZIM was stubborn and would not leave. It was just yesterday when Red's suspicions have been concurred. The bacteria was indeed from the engine room. So that morning, Red called Mr. Retchaw to his office and fired him as tutor. The engineer just simply nodded, fully understanding why his job title as a teacher was stripped from him. And now that Retchaw was basically out of ZIM's life, the boy could hopefully start recovering soon. And Red would need to find a new tutor. One that worked nowhere near the engine room, preferably.

"I've been doing nothing but laying around all day, Aba." Red ran a hand over his antenna, thinking of ways to keep ZIM occupied. The kid nearly went mad with boredom yesterday.

"You could read, or how about listen to music?" ZIM just rolled on his side, glaring up at his father. Red bit his lip. None of those sounded fun to ZIM. Suddenly, another idea popped in his head. A small smile played at his lips. "Or you could make you're own." This made ZIM cock a brow, sitting up in his bed, giving his father an inquiring look. The blankets on him slid off his body. He shook from the cool air now touching his exposed skin.

"Make my own music?" Red shrugged.

"Why not? You were always musically inclined." Red pulled ZIM into his lap. "We sing together all the time." ZIM beamed.

"Like _Irken Warrior_?" Red smiled and nodded.

"The folk song of pride of our people. I'd sing it to you whenever you were scared or upset." Red put a hand on ZIM's head and pulled him in for a tight embrace, resting the boy's head on his strong chest. "_Stand up, little Irken warrior, stand up and face the foe. I'll be here for you, my child, when you are feeling low._" ZIM grinned and harmonized with his father the next verse.

"_Fear not, small brave soldier, fear not for we shall reign. We are the Irken people and together we will sing_." They sung in unison. "_We are the victors of the universe, shout to the heavens, bless our race. Amen, amen. We are the Empire._" The two finished strongly. Soon after the anthem finished ZIM went into a coughing fit. Red patted his back.

"Don't fret too much, ZIM. It just takes time to heal."

"I know. I'm just so tired of being sick." Red cooed, kissing the boy's head.

"I know you are, Pup. I know what it's like too and let me tell ya, it was hard for me to be strong too. At one point I had mononucleosis for two weeks. I felt like I was dying, but I guess I was just being over dramatic." Red said. ZIM giggled. He knew what mono was. His uncle Pur would joke about it all the time.

"Who were you kissing?" ZIM asked. Red blushed.

"ZIM, I didn't get it from kissing anyone-"

"Uncle Pur said you did."

"Uncle Pur kisses a lot more girls than I do."

"That's because he never settled down for one woman like you did." ZIM mumbled, his eyes growing heavy and slipping shut. Red looked down at his smeet wondering where he got that from.

"Excuse me? What was that?" Red asked. ZIM shrugged not even remembering what he had just said. Without another word, ZIM fell into a light slumber. Red sighed. ZIM talked to his uncle Pur too much sometimes.

...

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Who do you think? The prince! Where is ZIM?"

"He's not in his quarters?"

"No! The Tallest told me to watch him as he went to a meeting and he's gone!"

"He's not gone. He's right there." Two Irken techs scurried out of the way of a racing animal with a smeet on its back.

"Prince ZIM! Please! Off the dog! Your father will be furious if you do not get off!" The first Irken yelled. ZIM ignored him. He was cooped up in his room for too long. Sure he was still sick, but he really wanted to have some fun and the antibiotics have been numbing him so he felt no body aches. The nose pores on his face were running though.

ZIM heard the crew member shout at him more threats of what they'd do to him if he did not get off this instance. He pulled back on the Kurunge Dai's ears to make her halt. He then commanded the dog to back track to the two hands.

"Don't tell, Aba. Don't tell him I'm out of my room." ZIM pleaded. "Please? I just want some fun." The two crew members shared a glance, biting their lower lips. The second tech shook his head. The first tech looked back at ZIM.

"Sorry, Your Highness." The tech reached up and took ZIM off the dog. ZIM pouted sorrowfully, knowing he's just gonna get thrown back in his room again. The Irken holding him gasped. "My God! Prince, you're burning up!" ZIM just looked up at the crew hand. He still felt fine. The medications he took were really strong. Stronger than the first prescription the medic gave him. "When's the last time you got your temperature checked?"

"Last night."

"What did it read?"

"One-hundred-three." The men looked at one another.

"You need to get to bed." The first man said. He then turned ZIM so the boy was looking him in the eye. "Do. Not. Exert yourself. I cannot even tell you how important that is. If you start rough housing now, you'll get even sicker."

"But I feel fine!" ZIM insisted.

"You may feel fine now, but when the medications wear off in an hour, you'll feel just as sick as you were before." The second Irken told him. ZIM pouted, crossing his arms. The crew never let him have any fun. The two men brought him back to his room and told him not to come out unless one of them came and got him or his father returned. ZIM scowled deeply, flopping on his bed.

Now that he thought of it, he didn't actually feel all that great. In fact, he felt as if he were about to throw up again. ZIM curled up in a tight ball on his side. Ara nudged his limp body with her nose before climbing on the bed next to him. ZIM shuddered getting a chill. He felt a wet tongue lick his cheek. He closed his eyes as Ara wrapped her large body around his tiny one. He placed his hand under his head and slept the day away.

...

"Sirs, there's an alien ship in our vicinity." The twins looked up from their paper work to a pilot in the main command room. The two looked at the huge screen projecting the outside of the Massive. True to what the pilot had informed them, a large ship drifted a rather short distance from the Massive. Purple narrowed his eyes.

"And it's a battleship too." He muttered. The techs, pilots, and soldiers looked to the Tallests.

"Orders, Sir?" One solider asked. Red and Purple shared a glance. Red shook his head. Purple sat back in his throne.

"Be prepared, to your battle stations, but do not fire. We'll let them make the first move. We don't want any unnecessary trouble." Every Irken on deck nodded scurrying about to do their tasks. Both Tallest left the room in a hurry to prepare for the impending battle. The two changed out of their royal garb into Elite soldier military uniforms to look like normal Irkens instead of men of importance. As Red ran back to the command center again, he stopped a pilot.

"You! Take a soldier and go to my son's quarters. Keep him safe if there's a battle." She nodded and took off to do as she was told. Red continued in his running back to the center. Purple was already there, eyes zeroed in on the enemy's ship. It was closer now.

"They have long range artillery on their vessel. If they wanted to attack us, they would of by now. They probably just want to pass peacefully." The brothers stood up tall, never taking their eyes off the opposite ship about four-fifths the size of the Massive but still quite large. The other ship was now side-by-side with the Massive, going the other way. Red looked to Purple.

"I think you may be right." Red said. At that moment, something knocked the two off their feet as well as the rest of the crew. A unnaturally loud _boom _was heard coming from down the hall. The alarms in the Massive immediately started to blare. The crew hands all shouted with shock and yelled orders to one another. Red and Purple scrambled to their feet. Another series of explosions was heard and all power starts to flicker. Red looked behind him and saw the entrance to the command room had smoke seeping into it.

"They infiltrated us through the hallways! All hands to battle stations! Fire at will! Kill all enemies!" Purple jumped off their pedestal and ran into the fiery halls to assist. Red darted after, plasma hand gun on his person. He sprinted down the halls, soldiers following him. Every room he passed he peaked in to make sure no enemies were hiding in there. He kept running till he reached the area of impact. Five holes were penetrated in the Massive leading in the halls. He could see the outside stars and feel the cold air of the vacuum of space. However, no one was there. Red gave his group the signal to cease running. "Put on your oxygen masks." Red pressed a button on his suit and immediately a invisible oxygen field surrounded his head. His group followed instruction. "Get into position." Red looked down the hall and saw Purple on the other side with a group of soldiers with him as well.

"They're going to board, Red! Be ready!" Purple called. Red nodded. The soldiers got their guns ready to fire. After minutes, Red cocked a brow.

"What is this?" He grumbled to himself. At that moment the ship lurched violently to the left, sending them crashing into the side walls. This time an explosion coming from the opposite side of the ship. The side where the royal quarters were. Red's eyes went wide with fright. A soldier came stumbling in, a cut on her head.

"There was two ships, milord! It's a ambush!" Red growled fiercely and pushed his way back. Foreign screams and shouts echoed down the halls. It was not an Irken language. It was a sloppy language. One that was barely comprehensible.

"They've boarded! They've boarded! All hands prepare to fire!" All Irkens ran down every which hall. Gun fires and screams for mercy ensued. Red ran down the halls to get to the quarters where the sixth hole was made. He was so close now. He gasped when he saw the door of his son's room was melted away by a magma laser. Two bloody bodies of a pilot and soldier laid dead by the frame. The vicious snarls of a large dog and the cries of pain from the foreign were heard along with the sounds of a distressed young Irken.

"Aba! Abaaa!" Red's heart nearly stopped at the screams of help.

"ZIM!" Red barreled into the room only to find the ugliest alien creatures he's ever seen in all of the universe, handling his boy. Their one eyes pierced his body, their permanent smiles were unnerving to Red. "Unhand him!" Red roared. One alien pointed a gun at Red. The father gasped and ducked out of the way just in time as a bullet went whizzing by his head. The aliens shouted to one another as they flocked out of the room and ran down the hall. Red got up, snarling fiercely and chased after them before they could escape from the hole in the wall on the side of the Massive. "Come, Ara!" The dog howled boisterously and healed by the outraged father. The Tallest was nearly seeing nothing but white, he was so furious and scared for his smeet's life. Red pointed his gun as he ran and shot several times at ones who were not carrying ZIM, in fears that he may accidentally misfire and hit the boy. He managed to knock down five rivals. One member of the enemies looked back at Red and shot at him in return. The Tallest cried out when he felt his shoulder get hit. He was knocked to the ground in temporary shock.

The enemies were getting away. Red bit his lip in determination. "Soldiers! I need back up!" He yelled into his radio communicator on him. Ara stopped by the downed man. "Sic 'em, Ara!" The dog obeyed the order and attacked the closest alien she could reach, tearing him up with tooth and claw. The enemy's screams were gurgled from the blood that seeped into his mouth. Red struggled his way to stand up and took off after the opposers once more, making sure to dodge the dog who had her victim. Red soon caught up again with the horde of enemies and could see ZIM fighting his hardest in the grasp of one particularly large alien. Small fists pounding into the back of the alien. His razor sharp teeth ripping through the kidnappers neck.

"Aba!"

"I got you, ZIM! I-" Red was cut off by a giant offender blocking his way. This alien stood five heads taller than Red. Wide eyed Red looked him up and tried to juke out of it's way. Before he could even find himself to move, the creature pointed a gun and shot. Red cried out in horrible agony as the gun of the opposer shot him with scatter bullets. The gun fired three bullets at once, each one sliced him straight through his thigh, hip, and lower abdomen. Red went tumbling down, not being able to find himself able to stand any longer. "I got you, child..." Red choked with the pain that shot through the entirety of his body. Red tried to stand but found no strength. The enemies turned the corner and were out of sight before his very eyes, taking his pride and joy with them. "I got you, Pup. . ."

...

Purple ran through the halls, no sign of any more alien life. He turned to the first officer he saw. "How many casualties?"

"We haven't checked the entire ship yet, Sir. Right now, four." Purple nodded.

"Where haven't you checked yet?"

"The left wing, Sir." Purple stopped dead in his tracks. He whirled around to face the officer.

"The left wing is where the Prince is! Why hasn't anyone check there yet?" Purple bellowed angrily. He then took off down a corridor leading to the royal living quarters. He had several men follow him.

"Sir! We found an enemy who is wounded but hanging on!" A soldier called after. Purple rubbed his temples.

"Put him in a holding chamber. I'll deal with him later." Purple said. He then continued to zig zag through the halls till he was greeted with a horrific sight. His brother wheezing on the ground, laying in his own pool of bright, red blood. "Shit! Red! Urii, get a medic over here, stat!" Purple and a few crew members surrounded Red. His eyes were wide, looking up at the ceiling.

"He's . . . gone . . . they took . . . him . . ." Red went into a violent coughing fit. Spewing up blood. Purple's heart sank. He shook his head.

"No." Purple closed his eyes tightly. He slammed his fist into the steel ground. "Find those, bastards! Hunt them down and take them down!" Red strained himself to sit up, blood flowed out of the bullet wounds as he tried to exert himself. "No, Red! Stay down!" Purple pushed his brother down again, rather roughly.

"I want . . . my son!" Red shouted. He thrashed trying to get Purple's grip to loosen up only to have more hands from other techs and pilots hold him down. "No! Let me up! . . . I need to get, ZIM! I need to find him!"

"Calm, yourself, Red! I will not tolerate your behavior!" Purple snapped, trying to get him to listen. Red was inconsolable. "You're injured and you need to be treated."

"My son could be injured right now!" Red bellowed.

"Please, Sire! You're loosing a lot of blood! Stop your resisting!" One medic tried reasoning. No use. It was as impossible as telling a mama bear, robbed of her cubs to stop attacking.

"I need to get him! I need to get him _now_!"

"Someone get me a sedative!" The medic panicked.

"Red, please! We'll get ZIM! Just please stop fighting." Purple warned. "Last chance, Red. Cease this now or we'll put you under." Red's face scrunched up in pure fury. In one last attempt at breaking free he kicked his legs and twisted his body to no avail of breaking free. Purple frowned looking over to the medic. He nodded to him. The medic got the message and quickly stabbed the needle into Red's neck. The Tallest groaned, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Soon his body lay limp on the floor. Purple sighed in woe.

"This can't be happening." He grunted. A lone tear streaked down his face. "This . . . cannot be happening." He sniffed, looking down at his now resting brother. "What are you guys doing? Get him to the med bay now!" Purple barked. The violet-eyed Tallest ran a hand over his antenna. He shook. "Scrounge the rest of the Massive for anymore bodies." He told the rest of the hands, waiting around. "Report back to me in an hour."

...

He woke up dazed. His vision going in and out of focus. He was staring up at a bright light over head. Several faces looked down at him. A sharp pain emitted from four different locations on his body. He moaned, turning his head to the side. He heard people talking.

"Wha . . . What's going on? What happened?" Red asked, weakly. The medics working on him stopped in their actions.

"Don't worry, my Tallest. Your wounds will be healed up soon enough. It'll take a few months though." Red whined, closing his eyes tightly. His head was spinning. He couldn't remember anything.

"Why am I here? What happened?" Red asked.

"You were shot in a freak artillery accident." One doctor lied. Red gritted his teeth. He tried moving his arm to rub his eyes but discovered that it has been bound to the table.

"Why am I strapped down?" Red asked.

"Just so you wouldn't move, Sire." Another answered. Red raised his head as high as it could go to see what exactly was wrong with his body. He gasped and blushed fiercely at what he saw.

"Why am I naked?" He demanded. A medic quickly scrambled off to the counter and got a towel and draped it over Red's lower half.

"Sorry, Sir. One of the bullets caught you in the hip." A doctor explained. "We didn't know you'd be ashamed. We're sorry."

"Are the bullets out?"

"Not all of them yet, my Tallest. We were just about to remove the one in your shoulder then we'd start to wrap you up." Red rested his head again.

"Get my brother in here." The medics stopped working again. They looked to one another.

"Uhh . . . He's very busy right now and you really shouldn't be seeing anyone right at this moment." Red pursed his lips.

"I don't care. Get him in here. I need to know if he's alright."

"He's fine."

"What about ZIM? Was he anywhere near the incident when it happened." The medics gulped.

"N-no, Sir. He's . . . fine?" One said in a more questioning tone. Red cocked a hairless brow at this.

"Is he fine?" Red asked. He pondered for a very long moment. Trying to gather his thoughts but his brain was just too scattered at that moment. "Is he . . . Wait a minute. He wasn't there. There was no accident with our weapons." Red started to remember. He heard a medic on his side lean over to another, whispering,

"Get another sedative ready."

"No." The medics turned to the entrance of the bay. Purple stood in the entry. "Let me talk to him." He said, taking a seat next to the bed. Purple looked Red's body up and down. "No major injuries?" A doctor nodded. "When will he be stable?"

"About a month, Sir." Purple inspected the open wounds.

"Fix him up, now. Dress his wounds then let him rest." The nurses nodded. "Red, I need you to listen to me." Red bit his lip, cringing as the doctors started to work on his injuries again. Digging out the last bullet in his shoulder. "ZIM, has been kidnapped." Red tried to sit straight up but the restraints prevented him from even sitting half way up.

"What? No! We need to-"

"Red, please!" Purple cut him off. "I need you to listen. It's imperative that you do." Red closed his mouth and laid back. Antenna perked to listen to the mostly one-sided conversation. "We already have a lead on where the kidnappers are going. We don't know what they want with ZIM yet, but as far as we're concerned, he's alright. We have techs trying to located ZIM's Irken biosignature. Once we find it, we're going after them." Purple scooted closer to Red, who was about to doze off. "Red, pay attention! We have a reason to believe that they took ZIM and are currently holding him for ransom. They want something from us. Wealth, power, our empire herself. We don't know yet. We're hoping we can contact them within the next hour or so." Red's features scrunched in anger. He breathed heavily.

"I want my son back in one piece. If they even hurt him in the slightest, I'll kill them all."

"Red," Purple interrupted him. "I'm sorry, but you'll be relieved from this mission. You need to recover." Red furrowed his brows, slowly becoming outraged.

"He's my son!" Red snapped.

"I know he is, Red, but we want you safe too!" Purple reasoned with him. "You have four bullet holes going straight through your body! You're in no condition to do any vigorous activities." Purple put his hand on Red's unharmed shoulder. "Just leave this mission to me, Red. I'll ensure ZIM's safety, even if that means putting my own in danger." Red pouted, tears slipping from his eyes.

"B-but . . . I'm his-"

"Just rest for now, Red. You need rest." Purple ran his head over Red's quivering antenna to sooth him.

"He's sick, Pur. He's sick and needs his medicine. What if we don't get him in time-"

"Rest. Now." Purple said, sternly. Red winced at the harsh tone. Purple was scowling deeply. Red knew his brother meant business when ever he had that look. "Stop thinking about all those scenarios. He'll be fine." Purple's eyes softened. "I promise you this."

...

He huddled up in the corner of a dark room, sobbing hard. He was scared and confused. He had no idea where he was and who he was abducted by. All he knew is that his father was probably dead from getting shot for trying to save him. ZIM wheezed and coughed. Bits of blood speckled the grey, steel floor.

The floor . . . The floor was cold. It hurt his overly sensitive skin. His body aches were back, his medications were wearing off and he wanted nothing more than to be in the warmth for his father and uncle's embrace.

ZIM tried to wipe his tears at the thought of his father. Aba always says to be strong, don't cry, and don't worry. Irken warriors don't cry. They don't tremble. They don't fear. Those are weaknesses.

. . . But it was so hard. The situation is terrifying.

ZIM pulled his legs up to his chest, laying on his side, waiting . . . Waiting for rescue. In his head he sung to himself, pretending the mental voice was his father's.

"_Stand up, little Irken warrior, stand up and face the foe . . ._"

* * *

I wrote that song in church. I thought it was pretty decent so i tied it into the story.

Oh, special thanks to **Kazehana23** for all her help and support!

And to **prettyaliens62**, You are honestly one of the sweetest people I've ever known on this site! Please, please, please, stay just the way you are! God Bless!

Anyway! I hoped you guys enjoyed! I've been busy lately, I just started my new job and what not so updates will probably be a little spread out.

For those who are thoroughly enjoying this story, remember to thank **KaileyMcLean23 **for her idea. It was my choice to do the story or not and now, I must say, I'm very glad I chose to do it!

Until next time, I bid you a pleasant goodbye.


	8. Negotiation

He was sitting in the cold cell for five hours now. Shaking hard, coughing and wheezing. Feeling as if he was about to die at any given moment. He now understood what the crewmen were saying when they told him the medications only numbed him of his symptoms. He sniffed. Eyes dripping with tears.

His aba was more than likely dead, he had no idea where he was or who these people were or what they wanted with him. He's never been so scared in all of his short life. The boy recited a special prayer over and over in a nearly silent chant. "_Please, give me strength when I am weak. Give me power when I am drained. Give me hope when I am doubtful. Give me peace when I'm in chaos. Deliver me from this evil. Wrap me in your divine love. Please, Abba in heaven, consider all that I ask. In your holy name I pray, amen._" ZIM jolted at the loud clang of the cell door opening. He closed his eyes tightly. "Deliver me from this evil. Deliver me from this evil." He muttered to himself over and over as footsteps toward him got closer. ZIM curled up tighter to make his body a protective ball.

The boy felt himself being lifted up roughly. ZIM screamed for anyone to help him. The alien holding him said something to his other mates in the crew in their language. ZIM struggled his hardest to break free. He then looked at the aliens arm that held him around his chest and bit down on it with all his might, his razor sharp, canine teeth sinking into it's flesh. The creature yelped and dropped ZIM. The little Irken scrambled back up to his feet and lashed out at the abductor. Using his sharp, claw-like hands to scratch the alien's face and neck. The other aliens that were there, rushed over to where ZIM was attacking. One particularly large alien, gave ZIM a strong kick to his abdomen. ZIM crumpled over in pain. The creature ZIM bit lifted ZIM's face. It then slapped ZIM brutally across the face.

"Bite again and I kill." The thing croaked. ZIM then found himself being restrained by two aliens. He continued his struggle only to be jabbed in the temple and his lights went out.

...

"Sir, the prisoner is willing to speak." Purple looked behind him to one of the soldiers stationed on the Massive.

"Bring me to him now." He ordered, fiercely. The soldier gave him a curt nod and led their leader down the halls of the Massive to the interrogation room. Purple peaked in the room through a one-way mirror. The prisoner's one eye was bloodshot and his permanent smile was as haunting as ever. Purple shuddered upon looking at the creature sitting by a steel table. He could only imagine ZIM's fear seeing an alien like that and grabbing at him. "Let me in. Alone. I want to talk alone." The officers and guards all looked to one another. "He's cuffed to the table, isn't he?" They nodded. "Then let me in." Purple gritted his teeth, having little to no patience for lagging. An officer opened the door for Purple. He entered briskly. He heard the door behind him close shut. He was now alone with the enemy. Purple stood tall and strong, glaring. Just glaring his eyes to create pure intimidation. The alien, though with a smile, was frightened. Purple stomped toward the table and slammed his hands down hard on the surface. The alien now knew he meant business. "Who the hell are you people?" Purple's quite voice had a raging tone to it. The prisoner did not speak. "Who are you working for?" More silence ensued. Purple pursed his lips. He erected himself again and walked behind the chained prisoner. The Tallest grabbed the alien's single antenna placed on top of it's head. He yanked it hard downward. The prisoner yowled from the intense pain. "I'll rip it off! If you don't talk, I'm not afraid to get my hands bloody!"

"Fa'hu!" Purple froze at the aliens cry out.

"What?"

"We're Fa'hu! Sworn enemy of Irken race!" He repeated in broken Irken language. Purple raised a hairless brow.

"I never even heard of you guys." Purple walked back to the other side of the table. "Where'd they take him? Where'd they take my nephew?"

"You be receiving transmission from leader." Purple bit his lip.

"When? When will I be receiving this transmission?"

"Soon."

"How soon is soon? My nephew is sick! You kidnapped him and what for?" Purple bellowed.

"He sick. He die if you no give what want in time." Purple's face was that of something way beyond anger. "Transmission will give answers. You no cooperate. He no live." Purple growled. He lunged himself at the alien, clutching the enemy's throat, crushing his windpipe.

"I'll kill you right here!"

"Leader not return smeet if you no listen to him!" Purple had enough. He grasped the one antenna on the aliens head again and pulled hard, ripping it off the head of the monster. The Fa'hu screamed, crying out for help of any kind. The door of the room busted open and guards hustled in. Purple dug his claws into the Fa'hu's throat and pulled back a tightly clenched fist, slamming it into his face.

"My Tallest, please! We need you at command bay!" Purple ignored the pleads of a crewman, digging his fingers into the enemy's eye socket. Several guards attempted to pull the raging Tallest away from his victim. "A transmission is coming through!" Purple stopped in his killing. He whirled around to face the guard. The Fa'hu was left now only moaning.

"Kill him." Purple told a officer before bolting down the hall to the center. Purple walked to the stage in front of a giant screen. "Answer the transmission." He said. A technician picked up the call. The screen fuzzed to life. A group of the aliens stood before him. Purple tried to keep his composure. "Fa'hu people, you're treading extremely dangerous grounds. Stealing the prince is an automatic death penalty-" He was cut off by the seeming leader of the group nodding to his men. Two of their guards dragged into view ZIM. Bound, gagged, and bruised. The smeet's hands were tied so tightly in the ropes that he was bleeding and it was cutting off circulation. The smeet's eyes were wide and terrified. He caught a glimpse of his uncle on the screen and tried to cry out for him, but could only make muffled noises as a result for being gagged. This infuriated the violet Tallest. "You will release him! And you will suffer the consequences for ambushing the Irken armada, attempting to assassinate a Tallest, and the kidnapping of our Prince!" The enemies said nothing. The leader looked to his men and flicked his wrist in a snooty manor. The guards holding ZIM hoisted him in the air and stretched his legs out so he could not kick. Another member of their group then gave the smeet a swift kick in the spooch. Purple cringed when he heard ZIM grunt from the impact, squeezing his eyes shut and tearing up. "How dare you! Do not touch him again or I'll-" Another kick was delivered to the little Irken. "Stop! Stop this! He's just a child!" This time a punch to the sternum knocked the wind out of the little one.

"My Tallest, hold your tongue!" Purple shot the nastiest of glares to his advisor. "With all respect, Sir. The more you talk and not listen, the more they'll torture him." Purple, furious that he cannot do anything, turned his attention back to the screen. He bit his knuckles to prevent himself from saying anymore. Satisfied with the cooperation, the leader began to speak.

"Well, Tallest Purple, it appears to be that we have something that you really want back." The Captain said in perfect Irken.

"What do you want from us?" Purple asked, slowly. The leader chuckled.

"Already prepared to negotiate, I see."

"Just tell me what you want so I can get my nephew back!" Purple sucked in his breath and held it when he saw one of the guards deliver another tremendous punch to the sternum. The leader smirked. Purple watched the enemies warily. He stared at ZIM's face. The boy has been crying and has been beaten. Purple longed to wrap him up in a warm embrace after killing the filthy creatures with his bare hands. Hearing ZIM whimper on the other end of the transmission only mad the anger already boiling in his chest stronger.

"Our planet has recently reached a global bankruptcy. Everyone is poor and hungry. Our poverty stricken planet is now nothing but a big depression. We need money to start circulating in our government and economy again and the only way to do that is to demand more. But we cannot print our own money on our own, otherwise it'd be pure chaos."

"Seems like you never had really good political leaders, have you?" Purple sneered. The captain ignored him.

"We want five trillion monies from you in exchange for the smeet." He said.

"Sir, the planet of the Fa'hu people isn't bankrupt. They're making up a pathetic, weak, lie." Advisor Urii said. Purple scowled.

"I knew that sob story sounded unbelievable." Purple said. "Fa'hu's give me the full truth before you ask for anymore monies." The opposing leader's smile did not leave his face but Purple could tell that he was sweating now that his original plan and story has failed.

"Just give us the damn money and we'll make the exchange." Purple sighed, frustrated. He ran a hand over his antenna.

"We only have eight billion monies worth of gold aboard the Massive at this current moment."

"Then bring it!" The leader shouted, now slowly loosing his own temper. Purple crossed his arms.

"Very well then." He growled. "Wilhelmina galaxy, quadrant A, sector 25. Meet us there for a peaceful exchange." The leader of the Fa'hu's grinned widely.

"Perfeeect." He drawled. Purple looked to ZIM again.

"Your father's not dead smeet." Purple told him in a different Irken dialect so the Fa'hu's wouldn't understand. "He's not dead." ZIM cracked the slightest of smiles before disappearing after the transmission was cut.

...

"Let me up!"

"My Tallest, please. A negotiation has already been made. We're getting your son back."

"I want to be there for the exchange!"

"You need to rest."

"I will not rest until I have my son back on board!" Red jerked his hands and ankles that were bound to the examining table as hard as he could, trying to free himself. "Let me out or I'll execute you all!" The medics and few officers looked to one another.

"Is he being serious?" An officer asked.

"If we release him then Tallest Purple will be furious." A medic said.

"Either way, one Tallest will be extremely upset." Said a soldier.

"Stop talking as if I'm not here! I demand to be released now! I'm the Tallest, you do as I say!"

"You're overruled by your brother, My Tallest. We're sorry." A medic tried to sooth him. This only mad Red angrier.

"_Overruled_?" Red roared. "Forget what my stupid brother said! He cannot overrule me on my decision on what I want to do for my son! I can't just lay here all day-" Red was cut off when a medic held a syringe in Red's eyesight.

"Don't make me have to use this again, My Tallest." Red gritted his teeth, furiously. Shaking from anger and longing for his missing son.

"Can you at least let me up so I can dress?" Red asked.

"Negative, Sir. That'd violate the direct orders Tallest Purple gave us." Red sighed. He's never been so incredibly annoyed and scared in his life. "Just rest for now, Sir. By the time you wake up, your son will be sitting next to you smiling down on you."

"God, I sure hope so."


	9. Escape

The young smeet shook from his fever, groaned from his body aches, and went into violent coughing fits that wracked his body. He sniffed trying to compose himself. He may have been sick and on the verge of death, but he was still the prince of Irk and he held himself with dignity yet.

ZIM looked about him in his small, cinderblock cell, looking for any place to escape these crazy, grotesque aliens that abducted him. He was very much relieved that his father was alive. That lifted a great weight off of ZIM's chest. It also cleared his head up a bit so he could analyze and assess his current predicament. He could also make a game plan on how he could escape. He heard the conversation the captain and his uncle had. He didn't want his uncle to give up all his riches for him. That gold belonged to the people of Irk. Not some creeps who can't lie for the life of them. ZIM couldn't help but snicker at their ignorance. Planet, bankrupt? How stupid did they think the Irken race was? Countries could go bankrupt, but not a planet without allies.

The little Irken struggled to stand up, but his sickness made him weak and unable to do so. He sighed, eyes heavy, body cold inside and out. His antenna perked when he heard a couple of Fa'hu outside his cell. Talking in their sloppy, native language. If only ZIM could comprehend them. Find out what exactly they're plotting. Whether they were going to keep their word to his uncle or break their promise and take the gold and ZIM's life. He couldn't be able to tell. He never heard of the Fa'hu's as of that morning.

ZIM coughed, his whole diaphragm hurting. Blood and phlegm continued to speckle his hands as he coughed into them. His stomach was in knots. He could feel his body preparing itself for vomiting. ZIM laid on his side. He just wanted his aba, uncle, even Advisor Urii, _anyone_ Irken, for that matter, to just be with him and comfort him. As long as he was with his race, he'd feel a sense of protection, comfort and hope for survival.

The door to his cell opened slowly. ZIM closed his eyes tightly. The aliens approached him. ZIM got ready to lash out if they touched him. Surprisingly the footsteps ended right where he lay. He cracked open one eye and as soon as he did he saw something silver fall right before his eyes and a loud clang rung in his antenna. ZIM cringed at the sudden, sharp noise. He then opened his eyes fully, looking up at the alien in his cell then back to the cell floor to see what the alien dropped in front of him. A dented, dirty, silver platter. It had a slightly moldy piece of bread on it and some sort of undercooked meat, that ZIM couldn't identify.

"If you think I'm eating that, you have brain worms." ZIM said, snootily, his voice cracking several times from screaming and crying. The alien cocked it's head to the side, obviously not understanding ZIM's language. There only seemed to be a handful of these Fa'hu people that could speak Irken fluently, let alone roughly. After all, Irken was one of the hardest languages in the universe to learn. The alien just pushed the tray closer to ZIM before turning and leaving. ZIM's lips turned downward with distaste. His stomach made a rumbling noise, but instead of being hungry, ZIM kneeled over and retched repeatedly over his cell floor. Minutes later ZIM was upchucking nothing and his body just had convulsions. Soon his body relaxed, he wheezed laying himself on the cold ground. He whispered to himself,

"Aba, come help me."

...

He was furious. No. He was _beyond_ furious. He was mad, infuriated, boiling, sad, miserable, angry, irritated, every word that described a negative feeling, that's what he felt at that moment. He was left in the med bay by himself. The medics were tending to the men and women wounded in the attack at this time. He chewed on his cheek, to keep himself from shouting and cussing. He pulled on his bindings. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get out of the leather straps. It'd take something sharp with a lot of power to cut through those ropes. Red's mind was reeling. Thinking of a way to set himself free.

Stupid Purple. Making him sit out and not even attempt to save _his son_. His son. ZIM was _his son_. Red should at the very least help in some small way in the effort to rescue ZIM. But _nooo_, Purple had to be stubborn and make Red stay out of the way. Just because he got shot. Purple got shot before and he still got to work. Of course, he was only shot once . . . In the hand so it didn't really effect his health too much. Red was shot four times in dangerous areas.

Red looked around the white room. He was cold. His was still only wearing a towel on his lower half and that was it. The crimson-eyed Tallest squirmed sorely in his restraints. He wanted to get up. After a long period of time of laying on his back made it hurt. And he really wanted to get up and walk. Red continued to browse the room, thinking of any sort of tool within reach to help cut himself free. Doubtful.

Red looked at a set of scalpels on the table next to him. It reminded him of a set of canine teeth . . . _Canine_. An idea suddenly popped into his head. He glanced out the open door of the med bay to see if any medics were around. He couldn't tell by the limited sight he had. Red then pursed his lips and blew a loud, shrill whistle.

"Aurora! Ara, c'mere girl!" Red's heart was pounding inside his chest. No doubt some one heard him call to the dog. More people than just Ara would come. Red just hoped Aurora got to him before the others. Moments later Red could hear the sound of pounding footsteps trotting to his room. Claws hitting the steel ground, Red knew it was who he was hoping for. Not a second later, Ara was in the room. She stopped dead in her tracks by the bed. Red pulled on the leather bindings, he lifted his wrists up as high as they would go. "Ara, these are hurting me. They're hurting, owww." Red moaned in false pain, knowing the dog would do whatever it took to make him feel better. Of course he really was in pain, but it wasn't in his wrists. The massive dog reared up and put her front paws on the side of the bed. Her sharp canine teeth bit into the leather bindings and with one jerk of the head, ripped the cables off. Red raised his hand now free from restriction. He waited until Ara did the same on the other wrist. Red was then able to undo the ropes around his ankles. Red looked out the door before standing up. He made sure the towel was snug around his waist, not wanting an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction to happen during his escape. Red commanded the dog to heal by him as he took off through the corridors of the Massive. Cringing with every step he took. The pain from where the bullets pierced was nearly unbearable. Red gasped for air, but with every breath he took, his lungs burned. Red came to a halt, hands on knees already out of breath from the short run. Red closed his eyes tightly. The pain was much too great, but he absolutely _had_ to carry on. He _had_ to get to the docking station. Ara nuzzled Red's leg to see if he was alright. Red stroked her once before whispering to her. "We gotta keep moving before someone notices I'm gone." Red took off again, this time in a more steady jog. He found himself running down a long, unoccupied corridor that led to the launch site where they released smaller air crafts from the Massive. Red got to the end and turned the corner to go out to the docking station, but as soon as he did he came face to face with a big soldier, just a centimeter shorter than he. Red's eyes went wide as did the soldier's, obviously stunned to see his nearly nude leader, frolicking about the flagship. Red pressed his index finger to his lips, as if telling the man to remain silent. Red shook his head. "You never saw me." Red hissed to him.

"Wha- M-my Tallest-" Red dodged the man and ran to the nearest available ship. Guards and other pilots took notice of the half-naked Irken running for one of the fastest Spittle Runners.

"Hey! He can't leave! He can't leave the Massive!" Just as someone shouted more commands, a few techs started to call the ships from the armada that constantly follow the Massive to warn them an aircraft with no clearance was leaving the bay. Red hopped into a cockpit, Ara following close behind. He started the ship's engine and revved it up. He flicked a few switches, turned some knobs, pressed a button and he flew the ship full speed out of the bay. As he exited the docking area the alarms on the Massive went off, sounding loudly throughout the vacuum of space. Red groaned, knowing that in a few short minutes, he'll have people trying to get him back. He saw a few ships from the armada start to follow him. Red narrowed his eyes in determination. He was one of the best pilots in the armada. There was no way they'd get to him.

...

"What's this all about? Why are the alarms going off?" Purple demanded of the nearest navigators. The Irken just shrugged, not knowing herself. Just then, a pilot from the docking bay ran into the command center.

"My Tallest, your brother escaped!" Purple's eyes widened, sucking in his stomach, and biting his bottom lip hard. The enraged Tallest whirled around to face a group of soldiers lining up, waiting for orders.

"Find him! Catch him, sedate him, restrain him, do whatever it takes to make him submit and bring him back here! Go now, before that idiot kills himself!" Purple turned back around, biting his knuckle. "I'm not loosing two loved ones today."

"Sire, he took the fastest ship of our fleet!" One soldier said. Purple furrowed his brows.

"He took . . ." The projection on the screen of outer space in the command center had a pure silver Spittle Runner glide across the screen, faster than a bullet. "And he took my ship!" Purple screamed with anger. "Damn that man!"

"Uh, Sir?"

"What?" Purple snapped, roaring in Advisor Urii's face. The other tall Irken gulped and took a step back.

"Would you like me to send a transmission to the runner?"

"Yes! Do it now. And make sure you have the hacking passwords to get past the firewalls that Red will use to block the transmissions." The advisor nodded and scurried off to do the task. A minute no later did the screen static to life as the Massive connected to the runner. Red's face appeared on the screen.

"I don't care what you say, Pur! I'm finding him!"

"We already made and agreement with the Fa'hu people! We're getting ZIM back!"

"What kind of agreement?"

"A trade. ZIM for all the gold on the Massive!" Purple crossed his arms. Red's face grew dark.

"They do not deserve gold. They all deserve to perish-"

"You'll perish if you don't stop this nonsense!" Purple shouted. "Get back here now, Red! You hear me? Now!" Red ignored Purple's yelling. "I'm sending out the best pilots in our Air Force! They'll get you-" Purple was cut off by Red's fist slamming into his monitor. The giant screen on the Massive went back to static, then black. Purple was shaking with unruly fury. Once he got his hands on Red, he will regret for ever leaving the med bay. Oh, how he'll regret it.

...

Red managed to shake off the soldiers Purple sent out to get him. He hid himself behind a rather large asteroid and was now resting with his eyes closed. He breathed heavily. The pain in his body too intense to bare. Red started when he felt the bandage on his shoulder get licked. He pushed Aurora away from him. The Kurunge Dai looked at him with big eyes, as if saying, '_I just want to make you better_'. Red sighed, then gazed at his control panel. The transmission screen was busted. Luckily there was another monitor at the back of the ship. Red put the ship in autopilot and stumbled his way to the back. He sat himself on the bed in the back room and pressed a few buttons in and the monitor sparked, turning on. "Computer, link me up with Irken Ally Vortian flagship, Redemption."

"Yes, my Tallest." The computer voice said, obediently. Moments later the transmission picked up and revealed a Vortian captain with his crew walking about doing their business behind him.

"Red!" The Vortian gasped. "What in the universe happened to you?"

"I need your help, Lard Nar-"

"You're hurt and naked!" The Vortian exclaimed. "Where are you? I'll bring my ship around to pick you up. We can help you-"

"Lard Nar, listen to me!" Red snapped, then groaned at the strain he put on himself. He looked down at himself. The bandages were bled through. Bright red blood pooled around the bullet holes. Lard Nar sat back in his seat, a few other Vortian's attentions were grabbed at Red's outburst. "I need your help. The Massive was under attack by some race called the Fa'hu-"

"Fa'hu?" Lard Nar stood from his seat. "Those guys are notoriously stupid! Did they get away with anything?"

"They got away with shooting me, killing a few members of my crew, and taking my son!" Red shouted. Lard Nar froze, slowly sitting again. "But don't worry about me. We need to get ZIM back. He's been sick for awhile now and he needs his medications. And he's in the hands of the enemy." Lard Nar pursed his lips.

"What do you need me to do? My fleet will be willing to assist in anyway."

"I've got to get to ZIM before it's too late." Red said. "Track the Fa'hu's ship and give me their whereabouts."

"You're not going all alone are you?" Red nodded.

"Red, that's suicide! I'm not letting you-"

"Lard Nar, please!" Red cut him off. "Just help me. I have a plan." Lard Nar sighed.

"Red . . . Stay where you are. I'm going with you." Red was taken back by this.

"Lard, you don't have to do that-"

"I'm gonna be sure you make it out if this alive!" The Vortian yelled. "God, why I ever started talking to you is beyond me. You cause too much stress in my life."

"I never told you, you had to come!"

"Well, Red, for sixty years now, I feel as if you're my responsibility. You make dumb decisions, and poor judgements. I can't help but feel like your smeetsitter sometimes. Now stay right where you are, young man. My navigators just tracked you in your ship. I'll be there in an hour." And with that the transmission was cut. Red scowled, not liking being treated like a child. Lard Nar just made the Tallest of the Irken race sound weak in front of the Vortian crew.

So what if he was a hundred years younger than Lard Nar? That gave him no right to speak to the leader of the Irken empire like that. Red sighed. But then again, Lard Nar was one of the heads of the Vortian territory, close ally of the Irkens. And the other thing that bothered Red a lot was the fact that the Vortian was six foot tall. Taller than Red . . . by four inches. Vortian's on average were taller than Irkens. So Vortian's felt like the dominant race just because they hovered over Irkens typically. Red stood and limped back to the control center and sat himself down. He ran a hand over his antenna, frustrated with everything that's been going on.

...

"What information did you gather of the Fa'hu's? Did you find anything else about their society?"

"No, Sir. We did find out that the Fa'hu race is nearly extinct. Only two million left on their home planet. The two million that are left are either pirates or killers." One tech said.

"Makes sense. Sounds like their entire race is going to be gone within a few hundred years." Purple muttered. Advisor Urii spoke to him.

"Sir, Invader Nata has just landed at the docking bay." Purple's antenna perked, eyes wide.

"W-what?"

"Nata, she left her mission to assist in the rescue of the Prince." Purple's heart thumped in his chest. He hasn't been able to talk to her in a month, her being much too busy, as well as Purple being preoccupied with Tallest duties. He was going to ask her to court with him as soon as she conquered planet Lehdnia.

"Escort her to me." The advisor nodded and left the command center to retrieve the invader. Purple was touched by the fact that Nata sacrificed her time to help the cause. He's known her since pre-adulthood, when they were still in school and training. At that time Purple already had four girlfriends. And when he met Nata, he had another girlfriend, whom he thought he was going to eventually marry. But that idea came to a halt when she decided to sleep with another guy. After that, all his girlfriends were either scared off by Red, being his annoying self, or were courting Purple for his looks not for his brains and personality. Nata, though, she was different. She admired Purple and the way he handled the Irken government and armies. The Tallest ran his hand over his head and took a deep breath. A minute later the advisor led in said invader. Purple's jaw nearly dropped upon seeing her. She's grown since the last time they've seen each other face to face. She was standing only half an inch shorter than him. That, to and Irken, was appealing. Purple cracked a smile as she confidently walked to him. "Thank you for coming at this dire time, Invader Nata. Your help will be appreciated."

"My Tallest, I'd do anything for the Empire's Prince." She said, hot pink eyes piercing his deep amethyst ones. "What's the plan, Goobers?" She asked, using the pet name she gave him in high school. Purple blushed looked at the workers and drones. He heard a few of them snicker.

"Well . . . My brother was injured in the attack. He was shot four times in different locations. He escaped the Massive to go out on his own to save ZIM." Nata nodded, scratching her chin. "Help the navigators track him and bring him back here before he ruins the negotiation."

"Got it, captain Goobers." She saluted. Purple rolled his eyes.

"Why must you embarrass me?" He whispered under his breath.

"What? You don't like Goobers anymore? How about Shmoopie?"

"Nata, please-"

"Tater-Tot?" Purple didn't say anything. "Yummers?" Purple frowned.

"My nephew and brother are in danger." Purple simply stated. Nata stood tall, she replaced her playful face with a serious one.

"Right, My Tallest, no more joking around." She turned and started to yell at the crew for waiting around and not doing anything. "Operation: Find the Idiot, is a go! Pilots, go back out and find Tallest Red! The navigators will keep in touch with you on his location." Purple groaned. This was the woman he wanted to be with. He liked her. No doubt about that. But sometimes, she liked him in return a little too much. He just hoped she could contain her happiness for being able to see Purple for the first time in a long time until the mission was done. "Goobers, the Vortian flagship, Redemption, is hailing us!"


	10. Name

**You guys will learn the power behind a name in this chapter. **

**You'll also notice something about ZIM's name too in this chapter. Especially if you read, Before You Know It. The only difference is the spelling. Read to find out.**

**Sorry for the late, late, update. My bad entirely. Work and laziness, I tell ya.**

**Feel free to review, but heck, I ain't forcing ya. Love ya guys! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Captain, please listen. I appreciate you risking your life to go with him on that mission, but I need him to come back! He's hurt very badly! Please, just send him back here where he'll be safe. Assure him that I'll get ZIM and all will be fine." The tall Vortian stood broadly, arms crossed on the Massive's viewing monitor. His face was stern and determined.

"My Tallest, with all do respect, I simply cannot give in to your orders. I already promised Tallest Red that I'd assist him and that's what I plan to do. I'm not breaking my promise."

"Captain, I can't let him go! He's going to die! You don't understand-"

"No, Nikol, you don't understand-" Purple bit his lip hard, seething.

"Do not . . . call me by anything but my title, _Nar_." The Vortian scowled, narrowing his eyes at the ruler.

"Then you do the same for me, My Tallest." Purple lowered his head, kind of ashamed for disrespecting the captain of Vort by calling him by his first name in front of his crew just as he did to Purple. Of course Nar's was unintentional. Purple was saying it to insult and embarrass the captain. "I just want to talk to you as friends now, okay?" Lard Nar asked. Purple nodded.

"Everyone leave. I wish to speak with the captain alone." Purple ordered. The crew members didn't say a word. They obediently followed his orders. Lard Nar was doing the same to his crew. Once everyone but the two friends were gone, Lard Nar spoke up again.

"I'm sorry for my blasphemy, Tallest Purple, it won't happen again." Lard Nar apologized. He must have forgotten that calling the Tallest by their birth names was not only disrespectful but it was humiliating to them as well, but only when it was used by someone lesser than they. However, the Tallest's birth names can also be powerful and a sign of gratitude and immense love. Otherwise they'd be known by their title and their color classification.

"It-it's fine . . . We're alone now. And I know you know the power behind the Tallest's name. We're friends. You're not less than me. You're not more. We're equal, Nar. And I'm sorry for using yours in front of your crew as well. It was uncalled for." Purple sighed. "It's just . . . I haven't heard my name in such a long time." The violet Tallest chuckled a bit. It felt good to laugh. It lifted the tension and relieved some of the stress he was undergoing. "It's been _sooo_ long." Purple sat down in his usual luxury chair. "Almost to the point of forgetting . . . Damn what's Red's-"

"Kato." Lard Nar interjected. "Remember? The meaning of the name is the second of the twins. Kato." Purple smiled and closed his eyes.

"Ah yes. Second of the twins. Kato." The last time he's said that name must've been over a century ago. Otherwise, how else would he forget his own brother's name?

"You two were such mischievous smeets. And since your parents were highly respected, and sought army generals, everyone knew who Nikolaos and Kato were. Kato always doing something naughty and sneaky and then there was you, Nikol, taking risky and bold chances. Kato always had a sharp tongue too. Very disrespectful and rude. And you weren't as bad but your body language was horrific." Lard Nar sighed at the memories. "Then you two grew up and became the exalted Almighty Tallest Purple and Red and now are more mature than I could have ever imagined you to be." Purple's eyes softened.

"Nar," He started. The Vortian looked to him with a friendly gaze. "Keep my brother safe." Lard Nar smiled, before playfully responding.

"Sure thing, Nikol."

**...**

"Tallest Red?" The leader gasped at the sound, sitting straight up. "My Tallest, Redemption is in our vicinity. An individual runner from their armada is wishing to board the ship." The computer's voice informed him. Red grunted sitting up on the bed.

"Access granted." He whimpered. Red looked down at himself. His bandages around his shoulder, hip, stomach and thigh were bleeding through. He still had no clothes on so he didn't know how he was even going to go on this mission.

"Captain Lard Nar's vessel has pulled up along side ours."

"Allow him to transport himself over."

"Yes, My Tallest." The computer obeyed. Red waited till the transporter in the room started to flicker. Then with a bright light and a bolt of energy coursing through the machine, transported the tall Vortian. Lard Nar stood on the platform of the transporter, giving himself time to think before going over to Red. Lard Nar walked cautiously over to the injured leader. Red tried to stand up but Lard Nar put a heavy hand on his shoulder to prevent him. Lard Nar kissed Red's temple as a symbol of friendship to the leader. Red took in a painful breath.

"Rest, Red. You need to keep up your strength if we're going to go through with this." The Vortian said softly. Lard Nar helped Red rest back. The Vortian covered Red's nether half with the white sheet on the bed. The captain then proceeded to inspect his wounds. "My ship is on standby. They'll assist your armada when you'll need them." Red coughed, droplets of blood shooting out of his mouth. Lard Nar used the sleeve of his uniform to wipe his young friend's mouth. "Now, lets see the damage." Lard Nar whispered. He grabbed his pocket knife and opened it up to cut the gauze around Red's body. He started with the shoulder. Red got hit right below the collarbone in a soft area. Lard Nar pulled the dirty gauze off and inspected the damage. The blood from the bullet hole started to pool out of it and seep down Red's toned, muscular body. Lard Nar shook his head. "You're still bleeding, My Tallest. I'll have to dress your wounds again." Lard Nar looked around for extra gauze. "Computer, where's the ointment, disinfectant, and gauze?"

"First Aid Kit is in the drawer in the cockpit." Lard Nar nodded and went to the front of the ship to retrieve the items. Red sighed heavily of the bed. Taking deep, agonizing breaths. His chest heaving up and down as he tried to remain calm. Lard Nar returned the three objects.

"Captain . . ." Red wheezed. His face and body were growing increasingly pale. Lard Nar kneeled by his side, putting a hand on his friend's face to sooth him. "Thank you." The captain smiled, warmly.

"What are allies for?"

**...**

_Aba is coming. Aba is coming. He and Ara are gonna get me and make these uglys hurt._

ZIM wiped his bleeding nose with his sleeve. His mind was reeling with everything that's been happening. And his body hurt. A lot. He was cold, tired, bleeding, dizzy, sore, queasy, and now he was hiccuping so hard it made him throw up and his diaphragm hurt. ZIM wrapped himself up in his arms and laid on his side. He closed his eyes in a sad attempt to find rest. There was no use. It hurt to even try relaxing. His antenna shot straight up when he heard footsteps approach the cell he was in. He growled out of instinct, his sharp ended fingers flexing ready to attack whoever dared getting close to the Tallest's son. The chamber door swung open and two large Fa'hu's entered and made a beeline straight towards ZIM.

"Leave me!" ZIM got up in a defensive crouch. A position he learned in combat practice with Aba. "Don't come near me!" The two aliens just laughed at the little threat. The larger of the two swooped down and grabbed ZIM's forearm and hoisted him high in the air.

"Pipsqueak don't scare us." The creature grunted. "Little yellow child pathetic." ZIM hissed, lashing out with his upheld arm, scratching the Fa'hu's neck.

"I'm green, you racist!" ZIM yelled, not exactly sure if the alien was trying to be offensive or not. He didn't care. He just wanted to be put down.

"You see captain. He talk to you." The other alien said in their lousy, broken Irken. ZIM kicked out his legs and managed to get his captor in the gut. The alien was unfazed by it but was still angry at the aggression. The large creature used his other hand to slap ZIM brutally across his jaw. ZIM cringed and whimpered at the sharp pain in his face. The alien still holding him grabbed both forearms and turned ZIM to be face-to-face to him.

"Only keeping you alive 'cuz of agreement." With that statement, the creature turned and swiftly walked out the door, ZIM in tow. The little Irken boy bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from crying. Not only was he sore, but on top of it all. He was petrified.

ZIM was able to glance about the ship as the Fa'hu carried him down the corridors and though the rooms of their mothership. He tried memorizing the paths but his head was to much in a daze from getting hit repeatedly and his sickness didn't help him one bit. The Fa'hu finally stopped in front of a steel door, pressing his palm against a scanning pad. The door swished open and inside was a big office.

A voice from inside called to him in their slurred language. The big alien holding ZIM walked into the room. The captain of the ship sat behind his desk. The leader commanded the alien to set ZIM down, so he did as he was told. The captain then dismissed him. The big alien left the room, shutting the door tightly behind him.

"Prince ZIM, I don't believe we ever formally met." The captain spoke to him in perfect Irken. ZIM stood before him, glaring, not saying a word. "Is prince your only title? Is their another title the Irkens have for you?" ZIM still said nothing. "I heard a few times that your people would often call you The Pride of the Empire. Is that right?" ZIM narrowed his eyes, his mouth was still welded shut. "You must mean a lot to not only your father but your entire race if you're considered their pride."

"I don't get where you're going with this, and I don't care to find out either." ZIM said as professionally as he could. His aba often told him that when dealing with enemies, make them feel lousy by acting superior and intelligent. And always be firm and never show fright. It was like an etiquette rule for royalties of Irk.

"Hm . . . Maybe it doesn't matter then." The captain stood up, folding his hands behind his back and walking to the side of his desk. "I already know every single thing to know about you anyway, am I right Zeiden Izac MaKale?" Anger boiled within ZIM.

"Inferiors call me ZIM! That is my name!"

"On the contrary, child. Those are you're initials. Just like Red is your dad's title name. Twin Tallests always assume the name of their color. Single Tallest's use their last names as their title. Now by your outburst, I can tell that titles mean a lot more to you than you think I know." The captain slowly walked to ZIM and towered over the smeet. "Titles are the way to tell of someone's position and importance. And if you have a title of Tallest or even Their Pride, then it's like a slap in the face to call you, Zeiden!" The captain swung out his arm and slapped ZIM squarely across the cheek, hard enough to send the smeet crashing to the ground. ZIM held his breath. He was never in a thousand years, gonna cry in front of this abomination of a captain. "However, if you called me Huck Cirra, I probably wouldn't care as much. Because that's who I am. Sure, I'm a captain. But my name is who I truly am. You Irkens, base everything off your titles, not by your birth names." ZIM, shaking hard, stood back up. The captain grabbed ZIM's jaw, pinching it hard and forcing the child to look at him. The creepy Fa'hu got close in ZIM's face. "Kato, right? Your father- or shall I say, aba's name?"

"Tallest Red to you." ZIM said through his squished cheeks.

"There you go again. That was like a slug right in your mouth, all because I didn't address his title."

"Where are you going with this?" ZIM pulled away from the Fa'hu's grasp. The captain grinned crookedly.

"The significance of your title is telling me just how much you're worth. Once your uncle gets here with that eight billion monies in gold, I won't be able to give you back yet because he failed to give me the five trillion monies. Now why would he only be willing to pay for less than half of your worth for your exchange?"

"That's all we carry on the Massive!" ZIM yelled. The captain was trying to make him distrust his uncle. But he would never. Family and the Empire before his own life.

"But alas, your title has a price tag on it. And it reads five trillion." The captain said. "I simply cannot settle for less." ZIM gritted his teeth. "Zeiden-"

"ZIM! I am ZIM!" The smeet nearly erupted. He wanted to do nothing more than to just kill this evil man before him. The captain smirked, waving him off so nonchalantly. This insulted ZIM even more than the disrespect of using his sacred birth name. It was blasphemy! And waving off someone of royal blood was just as bad!

"Well if I want to get anywhere with you in this conversation, I'll just call you ZIM then," The leader knelt down, to get eye level with him. "ZIM, I have a proposition for you. Are you willing to listen?" ZIM pursed his lips, but nodded all the same. "Good." The captain reached into his robe's pocket and pulled out a vile. "This . . . This here is medicine." ZIM's eyes widened. "For pneumonia. Something you are dying from as we speak. Now, I'll have one of my medics give you the injection to spare you if you remain on this ship until your Empire's debt is paid in full. You live, and I'll get all my monies, and your uncle and father will get you back in turn. It's a everybody wins situation." ZIM was shocked. He was dying and if he refused then he'd be thrown back in the cell without the vaccine, his uncle wouldn't get him back because he's short a couple trillion dollars, and ZIM would be kept on the ship until Purple paid it all, but by that time, ZIM was sure to be dead. So it was pointless. ZIM went through his options and the pros and cons. Either way, ZIM would be kept on the ship longer than he wanted.

"I-I'll take the first option." ZIM muttered. The captain chuckled.

"Oh child, you think I'm just gonna _give_ it to you? Oh no. That'll cost you extra."

"I have no monies to give you!" ZIM cried. The captain shook his head.

"Not monies, child. If you don't want the vile then you don't have to do this while we wait for the debt to be paid, but if you want the medicine, there's a price to be paid." ZIM perked his antenna to indicate to the Fa'hu that he was listening. "You want to know what it is?"

"I'd like to so I know what I'd get myself into." ZIM grumbled. The captain touched ZIM's cheek lightly where he had slapped the boy.

"If you submit to every crew members wants, we'll supply you with medicine, Irken food, and a comfortable room." ZIM grew pale.

"W-wants?"

"Oh yeah. I mean, this ship if full of men who all need a little . . . stress relief and comfort and . . . well you know, pleasure. And a pretty little boy like you would be perfect to satisfy those desires." The captain's eye pierced ZIM's body. The boy stood frozen and feeling even more unsafe than he already was. The captain held up the vile in front of ZIM. "It's your choice, child. Take the vile and live! C'mon, all you have to do is submit." ZIM shook hard at the consequences of taking the medicine. But he knew what he had to do. What he _needed_ to do. ZIM reached out and grasped the vile, still shaking, face pale, scared beyond comprehension. The captain's smile grew wide as ZIM looked at the vile in his small hands, knowing he had the smeet right where he wanted him. "You made a good choice."

"Yeah . . ." ZIM mumbled, bowing his head in shame. The captain stroked ZIM's antenna back, gently. ZIM scowled at him fiercely, then in one fluid motion, he raised his hand that still held the vile and smashed it down on the steel ground. The glass shattering into hundreds of shards. The liquid medicine leaked onto the floor. ZIM then got into the Fa'hu leader's face and snarled bitterly. "I'd rather die."


End file.
